Werewolf of the North
by nomad of the north
Summary: After mysteriously turning into a werewolf, Damien goes on a search to find out what has happened to himself. After run-ins with the Denali Clan and getting help from the Quileutes, he has to find a way to protect his imprint - but WHICH ONE?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer for the **entire** story:

_The incredible characters and their personalities of Twilight have been created by Stephenie Meyer. I have done my best to keep her characters as similar to her books as possible, but because I am not her they will stray a bit. Plus it's my story! Everything not created by her has been created by me._

**The Prologue, Chapter 1 and 2 are specifically about my characters. If it's Twilight people you want, go directly to Chapter 3. You'll miss out on a fair bit of background story, but that's where it really gets interesting anyways...**

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Werewolf of the North

Prologue

I

I had to get out of the house. I could not stand it anymore. My Mother was crying again and Father was drinking. Well, trying to drink anyways. Over the past week and a half I could not think of a time when he had been sober – or at least coherent.

Tonight, after realizing that he had finished up the last of the entire general store's supply of whiskey he had finally taken all of his monstrous rage out on the only person in this world that still had faith in him.

I knew that he had been close to the end for quite some time now; it had all started with his face.

As I now walked towards my spot and pictured Father's grinning face when he had first heard about the gold rush in the Yukon I couldn't help but smile. It was a simply infectious smile, and "was the reason I married him," my Mother would state proudly to anyone who would listen.

Yet the more time had progressed in this godforsaken wasteland of a place the more the realization was starting to sink in that the gold rush wouldn't much longer.

There was only about three or four places where gold could still be reliably found; the rest of the fields had either been wiped clean or swooped up by the mining companies.

Most of the men who had just arrived in town expecting to see the sparkling overflowing fields of yellow beneath the constant whiteness of the snow had been sorely disappointed to find that the event of the century was coming to a close. They had missed it all.

The brave gentlemen who dared to remain and search the land that had been combed over a thousand times already were slowly beginning to give up hope, leaving in small groups in the same way they had come.

"I hate the Yukon," I stated to myself in a rather calm manner that came nowhere near close to conveying the actual frustration that I now had pent up inside of me after one year and eleven months.

I sat on a frozen log in the middle of the clearing I had arrived at. It was my favorite place in all of the gold mining territory. Being completely surrounded by thick and dense pines and evergreens on all sides I was easily able to forget the large expanses of snow-covered ground that had seen too many men traverse them in such a short amount of time.

After about three minutes of sitting, four minutes spent pacing, and another three minutes with my face pressed deeply into the snow I decided that I had left my Mother entirely too long with my drunken – and by this time most likely enraged – Father.

I was a selfish child; usually when Father got like this I would simply leave, sometimes to another room, sometimes to the town two miles to the east of here. I had always asked my Mother to come with me, yet lately I had even given up on the possibility of her agreeing.

As I was trudging along the side of the path that led back up the big hill and through the town I heard a bloodcurdling scream.

"NO HENRY STOP!"

I continued walking slowly, my ears still ringing from the sound of my Mother's scream that the gunshot didn't even register until after the shot had been taken.

I continued walking slowly up the hillside, forgetting that I was now out of step, curious as to whether I had imagined the noises or if they had indeed been real. Considering the fact that I heard another gunshot as I approached the crest of the hill, only able to see a sliver of the growing rooftops, I was surprisingly calm.

I knew this day would come. In fact, I had prepared myself for it mentally many times before – this wasn't the first time Father had brought out the shotgun.

As I stood at the end of the first building I had reached, the hotel that now had all of its current residents either looking out from the windows or standing on the porch staring in shock, it finally occurred to me that the bastard had shot himself as well.

When I looked at the splatter of red that was now slowly making its way down the wooden siding of Father's general store to pool on the ground I saw my Mother, slumped on the ground into a sitting position at the bottom. She was keeled over as if she was about to vomit, her face now completely destroyed; the beauty of her face had been ripped and shredded in a hundred different ways by the bullets. The already pale porcelain face was covered with strands of her blonde hair that had become wet with the excess blood and sweat that continued to slowly seep out of her face.

Yet as I looked at her I took comfort knowing that her eyes were not closed in pain. I could tell that she had been standing very close to the shotgun and she had not been in pain when it happened.

The anger that I was now feeling inside my slight frame was not sadness for my mother; in fact I was celebrating that she had finally been released from the prison that had slowly but steadily become our life.

As I looked at her white dress that was once beautiful but now only bloodstained I felt the anger crash over me in waves, one after the other, letting it seep into my body. It started in my head, and slowly as if it had been poured, washed down through my body, over my shoulders and into my skinny arms, filling even my fingertips with hatred, all the way down into my legs to my feet that were too small in my boots that were too old. I wondered why this felt the way it did, so I decided to stop for just a few moments to indulge in my curiosity. The rage felt cool, soothing.

I looked at my mother's dress; the only thing I had bought in my entire life was the splotchy scarlet birthday present I had presented to her only yesterday, that she was now wearing. I had waited ten years to present her with the efforts of my hard manual labor and saving of coins – and he had ruined it, had wrecked her; wrecked their beauty beyond repair.

Now she was dead and everything was ruined. It had all been undone in a single action.

It felt like I was spending hours contemplating whether or not to look at Father. From the crowd that was now unnecessarily gathering around the scene that had just taken place I couldn't see him anyways.

I turned and left, walking back the way that I had come.

II

As I reached the bottom of the hill I heard a young woman's voice calling after me. "Damien! Please wait!" she cried.

I didn't even bother to look back – I knew that she would follow me anyways.

While Penny was the most beautiful girl in this tiny town, not even she was enough to make me want to stay. I continued walking even after I heard her trip and fall through the snow.

Feeling a twinge of guilt arise inside of me I decided to humor her, and turned around to help her up.

"Thank you, thank you," she whispered hopelessly as she saw me approach. We had talked many times about leaving this wretched place together after I had learned that she hated it somewhere close to as much as I did.

But all of that was over now

The minute that I felt her hand grip tighter around mine than needed I knew this would not be easy.

"Where are you going Damien?" she asked, her eyes becoming misty. "Are you leaving now? I thought that we wouldn't be going until spring." She tried to continue but faltered.

I shook my head, not having the courage – but I think it was really the patience – to explain to her that anything I had told her previously did not matter anymore.

"No?" she asked quizzically, matching her question with her lopsided half-smile that she used whenever she didn't understand what was happening. I always enjoyed her facial expressions; those I would miss the most.

"No," I whispered, quiet yet firm, but most importantly final.

"But, but…"

I absolutely hated it when she got this way, but at this particular moment I found it helpful, because as she sank back down to her knees and placed her beautiful face into her hands it gave me time to start walking away.

I heard her whimpering softly behind me, but continued to walk forwards.

After walking for about ten minutes or so I decided to give in to myself and see how close Penny was behind me, and to my displeasure, she was awfully close.

When she saw me trying to peer over my shoulder she started running, which is a very hard thing to do when traveling across ice-covered snow.

Her melancholic mood had completely changed when she saw me hold out my hand in invitation towards her. She paused though, unsure if I was actually asking her.

I couldn't help but allow the smallest of smiles to escape my stoic face. How odd we must have looked, me, with my hand outstretched to the nothingness, with Penny, twenty feet behind looking at me questioningly.

With all of the energy she had left to muster, she decided that I was indeed serious – which I was; I could never be cruel to Penny – and sprinted the remaining distance to place her hand dramatically in mine, once again squeezing tightly.

"I don't know why you tempt me the way you do Damien," she said rhetorically. "In fact I don't even know why you love me, or why I love you."

"It's better not to ask questions about things you don't know," I said a little more indifferently than intended.

She turned her head, waiting silently for me to turn mine. I eventually gave up and faced her straight in the eyes, which I noticed had lost any sign of tears that I thought I had seen before.

"You always used to say the exact opposite," she replied curtly, obviously hurt.

I turned my head back to the front and focused on the place that we had now come to. I had strayed from the southward path quite some time ago, and had now reached the large expanse of forest that bordered the lake we had been walking across.

She stopped abruptly, so that I was now a pace ahead and the only thing connecting us were our hands. I tried to let go of her hand to continue, now very irritated that she had stopped behind me, but she only tightened her grasp on me.

"We're not supposed to go into the forest Damien," she warned, managing to hide the fear in her voice quite well. She was by far the most easily scared of the forest legends told by the Inuit traders and was always adamant about following the sheriff's rules.

I looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to make this one final choice. She was clearly torn, which was expressed by the way her body went absolutely rigid, as opposed to the odd quirks most others allow when forced with making an important decision. I loved it.

"Do you promise that there will be no more questioning after this?" she asked dramatically.

I continued staring at her, allowing only my eyes to soften, promising her no more questioning if she followed me here and now.

The way she looked so unsure before had completely changed now. She made her decision with an air of confidence I had never seen before.

She took a step forward to stand beside me, in the thick evergreen foliage that now surrounded the both of us.

I morphed into my wolf form, laying my stomach onto the snow that melted instantly at my touch to allow her to climb onto my back, gripping the fur along my shoulders and took off through the forest into the night.

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	2. Runaway

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Werewolf of the North

Chapter 1 - Runaway

I was unsure how long exactly we had been running – well, how long _I_ had been running. It's hard to tell time when you have no watch; or clothes for that matter. I chuckled, thinking how odd it would look to be running around naked as a human, yet wolves did it so freely.

It then occurred to me that I had not brought any spare changes of clothes, and preceded to growl at my stupidity, which in turn caused Penny to awaken from her semi-sleeping state that she had been in. Not realizing where she was or what she was riding, she started to panic, and even let out a small shriek.

I stopped running, pushing my front paws out to stop myself, skidding across the icy snow. We had come to a small clearing, only about thirty feet in diameter. I noticed a couple of fallen trees that would be good to start a fire. If only I had remembered to bring my pack…

While I started cursing myself with more growls that were too low for Penny to hear, something dropped to the ground out of the corner of my eye and I heard a small 'thud'. My leather pack!

As Penny gracefully slid off of my back I saw her pick up the bag that contained my survival kit. She smiled to return my wolfy grin that I now was wearing. "I thought you might need this," she said, chuckling to herself. "You might have been thoughtless enough to forget it, but it's a good thing I'm not."

"Let's see what's in here, shall we?" she asked, dumping the contents of my large leather bag onto the slippery ground without waiting for a reply. Out came a rolled up tarp, a small bag of dried meat, a container of oil, some twine, tinder to start a fire, my big winter coat and a lighter, which started to slide away across the ice. I caught it with my paw and slid it back to Penny, who was now putting everything back into the pack.

"Okay," Penny started, taking in a deep breath. "First we need to start the fire, yes?"

I nodded my head, getting up out of my comfortable spot on the ground to go fetch one of the dead logs I had spotted before. I easily picked it up with my now enormous jaws and brought it over to the spot Penny was using to start the fire.

She giggled when she saw how big the tree was. "You _are_ strong Damien." She flinched when I proceeded to snap the log seamlessly in two with my jaws of steel. I whimpered, apologizing the only way that I could for surprising her.

She smiled, acknowledging the apology. "Silly dog, it's alright," she said, stretching out her hand to stroke my head. I lowered it and crawled forward, allowing her to get closer.

Her smile grew wider when she realized just how warm my skin really was. "Wow, your fur is _really_ smooth, I didn't notice it before. And it's a really pretty – sorry I mean handsome – grey. It's almost as if it's white though. It's just like my polar bear skin blanket back home…" she said softly, trailing off.

I frowned; once again the selfishness of my actions was finally hitting me. While my family was ridden with problems and anger for each other – well for Father at least – Penny's was the exact opposite. She had two younger twin brothers and two parents who were deeply in love with each other and their children. They were also very kind to me, and were all very well aware of my situation. The whole town was; it wasn't like my parents' arguments were ever very quiet.

I felt horribly guilty now; Penny had never even gotten the chance to say goodbye, yet she chose to follow me now without a single complaint. If there was one thing that I could still do for her, it would be to keep my promise; I would never question her loyalty, or her love for me, anymore.

Penny moved closer to me, bringing me back into the moment. "And you're so warm too, just like my blanket."

Instinctively I moved closer to her, wrapping my enlarged body entirely around her small frame. I was a thin boy, but still fairly tall, so as a wolf I was even larger, standing about six feet on all of my legs and about eight feet in length, although it is annoyingly hard to judge when you can't even see your entire body.

I made a mental note to let Penny know what I was doing next time, because when I stood up to circle around her she fell over into the snow. I immediately dropped onto the snow to see if she was all right, with the surrounding snow flying into the air with a gentle "_whoosh_". When she giggled with delight I noticed that her beautiful auburn hair contrasted amazingly with the snow. As I maneuvered my long muzzle through the cool white powder I accidentally pushed more into the exquisite human face that was staring back at me.

I breathed out slowly, exhaling a wave of warmth onto Penny and all of the cold snow melted instantly.

Penny closed her eyes, enjoying the sudden burst of warmth on her semi-frostbitten features. From this vantage point I noticed that she wasn't wearing much at all, a woolen sweater and matching oilskin pants.

A protective feeling swept over me. I stood up, and with the utmost of care I nudged Penny to a kneeling position. I went to retrieve the pack with my hunter's jacket in it and dropped the bag in front of her, and then resumed breathing over the rest of her body, melting any snow that I could see.

"Why thank you, Damien," she said, standing up and curtseying in response. She lifted up the leather bag and this time pulled out a few objects, asking me if each in turn was the one I was looking for. When she lifted the jacket up I grinned, telling her that was indeed what I wanted.

Penny look confused. "How are you going to wear this as a wolf? Are you going to change back?" Seeing my head shake 'no' she looked even more confused, frowning and forming crease lines on her forehead which did not belong there at all. "Then how will you wear it?"

I moved forward and gently tugged on her sweater with a single eyetooth that was about the size of ten regular human ones. "You want me to wear it?" she asked, the idea finally dawning on her.

I chuckled, which came out as a deep, throaty sound that I can't really compare to much. It was as if someone was using a two-man pull saw on a tree, slightly jagged, but somehow enjoyable at the same time.

"Oh I understand now," Penny said, smiling at my generosity and thoughtfulness as she pulled on the coat that was much too big for someone of her size. "Thank you Damien," she said appreciatively, leaning in to give me a kiss on the muzzle, which surprised me. I grinned wider than ever before and my ears fell backwards slightly. Her lips were soft, and felt nice and cool on my overheated body.

She smiled her infectious half-smile. "I wonder why you're so warm. It's almost…" she paused and grinned. "It's almost as if your not human!"

At this I laughed hard and loud, filling the entire clearing with my beastly noise. If I weren't still laughing as I rolled on the ground I would have noticed a flock of birds taking flight in the distance.

Penny joined in, and then stopped to let out a big yawn. "Oh dear, we haven't even started the fire!" She bent down again to rummage through my pack for the lighter, but I stopped her with my paw, making very sure I didn't scratch her with one of my nails. I had learned quite fast that they could cut through anything, including solid rock the first time I had transformed.

"How are we supposed to stay warm then? I know that you're nice and toasty in that warm coat of yours, but what about me?" she asked, slightly irritated that she still didn't understand.

By this time the spot where I had been laying had completely melted all of the snow around me, revealing the wet and hard ground underneath.

"Hmm, if I laid the tarp down," she started, only stopping to pull out the medium-sized tarpaulin, "then I could lay next to you, yes? You want to keep me warm, is that it?"

I nodded, pleased at how easily I could communicate with Penny despite the obvious language barrier between us, and motioned for her to come lay against my lean midriff with head and tail wagging slowly. I was tired as well, but I felt that I needed to protect Penny, keep her safe, even though I knew that there was no one near us for at least a couple of miles.

As she lay beside me she curled up into a ball. I then curled up around her, my tail coming up to tickle the underside of her chin. She giggled weakly, and was able to nestle her head into the crook of my arm, which was very awkward to do considering I have very limited movement of my legs.

"Thank you, Damien, thank you for everything."

I had no idea why Penny was thanking me of all people; I was the quiet boy who never talked much, stole her away from her parents and brought her out into the middle of the Yukon wilderness without a clue where we were.

It was when she said, "I love you" that I think I began to understand. She loved me. But why?

All I could do at the moment to respond was give her a lick on the cheek.

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	3. Have a Nice Day

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Werewolf of the North

Chapter 2 – Have a Nice Day

The breaking dawn started to creep up slowly across the purple sky that was receding to the west, forming a beautiful contrast in color as I lay there watching it, holding the exquisite Penny in my – well, I think I can still call them arms.

I was starving. I knew for me it would be relatively simple to feed, but I couldn't think of what to do for Penny. Not having any clothes was really becoming a problem. I decided that for right now what mattered most was getting away from the town and keeping Penny safe.

I was at a complete loss; I had no words, no actions, no way at all to describe what I was feeling for her. It was as if I would surely die if she were no longer with me. Perhaps it would make more sense to say that I would be nothing without my better half, which as I lay there now realized was Penny. Why? I hadn't the slightest clue. But something deep inside of me kept saying not to let her go – _ever_.

While I was once again deep in thought I had forgotten about my surroundings, including the girl that was now stirring beside me. After a very noisy – and cute (everything she did was now cute to some degree) – yawn and stretching of her arms I noticed that I was now sprawled across her midsection. Apparently I sub-consciously imagined that she needed more protection during the night than I had first thought.

I awkwardly stood up, so that when Penny finally decided to open her eyes she found me standing over her body, with my muzzle about two inches from her face. True to her form, instead of having the living daylights scared out of her, she smiled sleepily.

"Why good morning, Damien. Have you been up long?" she asked, to which I shook my head and licked her nose in response.

I continued to stand there, gazing stupidly at her, not understanding that she was trying to sit up. Penny giggled and wrapped her arms around my lightly shaggy neck expectantly. I grinned knowingly, and took a single step backwards and jerked my neck up.

The look on her face as I yanked her up was priceless: the way her mouth formed a giant 'o' and her eyes went wide with surprise made me roar with laughter, which only scared her more and caused her to jump back, almost falling over again.

"Ha _ha_, you are just hilarious Damien!" Penny cried awkwardly, rushing forward to push me over. I grinned and licked her nose, apologizing but not really being sorry. "I swear if you weren't an _adorably_ giant wolf right now I would kill you! But you're not, so I can't," she said while pretending to pout. She gently slapped my face and then started to pack up the tarp.

We heard a rather unnaturally loud grumble and then a sheepish smile spread across Penny's gentle face.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday." She picked up the pack and pulled out the bag of meat. I remembered it was deer that I had hunted this last Wednesday. It had been a full moon and I was especially hungry, so I had overhunted, but didn't want to waste a perfectly good animal.

I studied Penny's face as she ate. Everything about her was simply fascinating to me; from the beauty of her perfect teeth ripping through the sinewy meat to the way the muscles of her neck strained and contracted as she chewed.

I had never really noticed it before, but as of late I had become increasingly more interested in all of Penny's movements.

"Damien, aren't you hungry?" she asked, holding up the salty food. I shook my head in response. Once again, as if she could read my mind, Penny smiled. "You probably would prefer something fresh, wouldn't you?"

While it was true that I preferred to catch my own meals since I had become a wolf, this wasn't the particular reason. I would have gladly eaten with Penny, but I wasn't sure how long it would take to get to our destination, so I wanted to keep as much reserved for her.

"Well go on you silly dog," she teased playfully, sweeping her hands outwards as if she was shooing me away. "Now go and _fetch_ yourself some breakfast."

I chuckled at her canine humor, rushing off to quickly find food so that I could hurry back to Penny.

I smelled a moose not too far away, and after a second sniff to make sure I was bolting in the direction of the beast. I had soon learned that there was nothing more exhilarating than hunting: feeling the wind rushing through my fur with the scent of the prey fresh in my mind was incredible. It was as if I had become entranced, seemingly possessed by the single objective that lay in front of me: take down the beast.

It was from about fifty feet away that I first saw it. I loved my enhanced senses because it made sneaking up on prey much easier, whereas the men that hunted around here wouldn't be able to see the moose for at least another fifteen feet.

I slinked forward, trying to keep my enormous body close to the ground as I approached. If there was one thing I had learned since my transformation, it was that no matter what, if an animal senses trouble, it will flee the moment it feels endangered.

I originally had a lot of trouble with trying to catch animals; they tended to flee before I was even able to get within a hundred yards of me. Once I was able to cut down on the racket I made as I charged through the forest and advance at a reasonable pace until I was able to ambush I became a much better hunter.

My mouth was now watering so badly that I had to stop for a minute to compose myself. Despite being one of the most savage animals in the world, I was still able to maintain a few of my human characteristics: mainly the hate that I harbored for drool. I hated it when dogs did it, wiping it on their own fur or the furniture, or when the drunks did it when they collapsed into slumber after a severe night of drinking. Father came to mind, but I quickly pushed him out of my mind.

It wasn't often that I was allowed to hunt moose, chiefly because there were very few near our town and if the ones that did appear every once in a while were to all suddenly disappear, the townsfolk would become suspicious. I grinned, thinking about what a kind and generous beast I was.

I was now about fifteen feet away, directly behind the great animal. Completely forgetting about Penny for the moment, I decided that instead of simply killing it I would literally take it for the ride of its life.

It stood there, grazing on a small patch of frozen grass it had managed to uncover. This one would be easy.

I leaped forward, crossing the short distance in the air, timing my landing perfectly so that I landed with my upper torso and front claws on the moose's back. I stayed still, my position firm, allowing the large beast to twist and writhe in fear. It was trying to run, but with my claws dug into its shoulder blades it was too painful. The moose cried out in agony, knowing what was soon to come. I allowed it to move around awkwardly for another minute or so before it thrashed its head straight back in one last attempt to shake off its attacker.

This was my favorite part: I turned my head to the side, and with my horizontally placed jaws around its neck, I snapped my mouth shut and pulled upwards, ripping the head with my mouth straight off. I ate happily, quite proud of myself for an excellent job well done. I finished up feeding, leaving a tad bit of meat left for any scavengers that passed this way and ran the entire quarter of a mile straight back to Penny.

"Oh!" she cried, suddenly wiping the smile off of her face as if she was in shock. "H- hello Damien," she started rather anxiously for a girl who had told me to fetch breakfast – and knew what it meant – just twenty-five minutes ago. "Look what I found at the bottom of your backpack!" she smiled proudly, holding out the pair of woolen long johns that I had placed into my pack a few months ago. They must have completely slipped my mind.

She placed them down behind a tree and then walked to the other side of the clearing, an unsure smile had reappeared onto her face. "I'll let you change now, you must be tired of walking around as a wolf."

While she couldn't be farther from the truth at the moment, I would do anything for this girl, so naturally I obliged, and headed towards the tree to change.

Turning back into a human was always a very odd-feeling process; all of the hair retracts back into my skin and there's a small tingly feeling every time a hair fully disappears into my body. I was well used to the sensations by now, but there was always a slightly enjoyable shiver that went down my spine.

As I pulled on the leggings that were too a tad too small it finally hit me how much I had actually grown over the last three months. It wasn't as if I was overly built up with muscle; I had been stretched mostly. I had gone from a rather unintimidating five foot four to a much more respectable six feet. Apparently the extra height that I had gained made me more attractive to the girls around town, because when it snows eight months out of the year they don't see your covered up physique much.

I chuckled to myself as I thought about how I had become much more popular around the surrounding towns as well; all of the teenage girls would come and attempt their best flirtatious movements and conversations when I dropped off supplies to the general stores. I was completely oblivious, thinking they simply had nothing better to do.

When I had managed to fit into the long johns that ended about three inches above my ankles I noticed that I had no shirt, sweater, nothing to put over my chest. I knew that I didn't need one – my skin already felt like it had been out tanning in the sun for too long – but it would be improper with Penny around.

"Excuse me, Penny?" I asked hesitantly as I looked around the tree. I noticed that she had been cautiously inching her way closer to me as she was no longer at the far end of the clearing and I smiled, knowing that I had caught her.

Her face instantly went into an automatic smile, which was a sign that she knew I knew. That was something else about Penny that I found intriguing: her face never went red. I found it odd that she was able to show so much emotion through her facial expressions, but she never blushed. I ignored it simply as one of the many quirks that made up Penny's excellent character.

"Yes?" she answered cautiously, the smile vanishing the second she saw my face and looked into my eyes again.

What was wrong with my face? I had been so focused on getting dressed that I hadn't even noticed the moose blood that was smeared around my mouth, and the small trickle of red liquid that was running down the side of my cheek.

"_Oh_," I said rather absentmindedly, now understanding Penny's sudden standoffishness, "I am so sorry. Please forgive me, I just need one minute," I shouted as I turned and ran back into the forest without waiting for a reply.

I practically dove right into the snow, my body melting it at an increased rate, and used it to quickly scrub my face, my hands, and my hair – just in case there was any blood anywhere else.

Feeling good – and clean – I proudly strode out of the woods back towards Penny, only to find her sprawled out on the ground – being sniffed by a pack of wolves.

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	4. Crazy On You

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Werewolf of the North

Chapter 3 – Crazy On You

I sprinted over to the tight circle of four wolves that were focused so intently on Penny – _my_ _Penny_!

"Get away from her you bastards!" I shouted as I lifted up the smallest wolf, a sandy brown one and tossed him ten feet into the nearest tree, crashing into it and knocking it over with a loud "_boom_".

The other wolves simply stared at me, apparently unsure of what to do next. I took this time to run forward and scoop Penny up, cradling her body in the crook of my left arm and over my shoulder as I gave the biggest wolf, a dark russet colored one, an uppercut punch right under his massive jaw. I probably shouldn't have done that, but when he started to sneer and growl at me I really felt threatened for Penny.

I realized that he must've been the leader because the two uninjured ones both lunged for me. I narrowly evaded them, ducking and even rolling once so that I was able to flee the clearing.

I decided that trying to outrun wolves as a human while carrying Penny was hopeless, so I jumped up and reached for the lowest branch of a massive pine tree and managed to pull myself up and off the ground. The coverage was so thick that I was able to prop her up against the massive trunk and place her in a position where I thought she would stay without falling – as long as she stayed unconscious. We weren't too high up, so I wasn't all that worried. I heard one of the wolves approaching and froze, waiting to see what they would do next.

It was a brown wolf this time, not one of the original four that I had seen in the clearing. "Great, there's more of them," I muttered to myself. I knew what I had to do, and at the current moment I really didn't feel like fighting an entire pack of wolves. In fact, I don't think I've _ever_ felt like fighting wolves, mainly because I never had before and was sorely inexperienced. Another black one had joined the brown wolf, so I had to get rid of them both before any more showed up.

I crouched, my body tensing up as I waited for one of those mutts to come a little closer to the tree we were hiding in. At the precise moment I sprung forward, my transformation happening as I appeared through the many branches of the tree. I made a mental note this time to make sure I cleaned up before going back to Penny.

Both wolves were smaller than me (one of them by a lot, actually), but I aimed my initial attack for the larger one. It was just like when I hunted for food; always take out the mother moose, bear, cub or whatever it was first.

Just as I did when I had hunted for the moose earlier, I managed to land on it's back, but when I tried to dig my claws into it's shoulders it twisted away before I could trap it. I rolled off of its back and into the snow, where the brown mutt was ready to attack. It dug its claws into my underbelly and took a long sweep across my stomach. The gashes were shallow, but it was enough to really send me over the edge. I kicked with all of my strength and sent the wolf flying, right into the black wolf, which I now noticed, was much bigger than I had originally thought. I jumped back onto my legs and charged the two wolves that were temporarily dazed.

About halfway to them I noticed a medium-sized gray wolf that was bolting furiously towards me. After having hunted other wolves before I could tell that this one was a female. I must have attacked her mate.

'Who the hell do you think you are? If you EVER touch my brother again I swear I'm going to rip your head off!'

'Okay, so it's a sister – I was close,' I thought to myself.

'Wait a minute.' I stopped running, now staring stupidly at the wolf that was racing towards me with a vengeance. 'Who said that?'

'I did you idiot!' screamed a girl's voice.

I turned around and stared up at the tree I had hidden Penny in. 'Was that you, Penny?'

'Leah, wait!' shouted a new voice.

'He threw Seth into a friggin' tree! Normal wolves don't do that, not even werewolves!' she screamed back.

'You don't understand! He's one of us!' said another voice.

'Where are all of these voices coming from?' I asked myself, but it was too late. I had managed to put together that the grey wolf was Leah, and that I had thrown her brother Seth into a tree just before she collided with me, her jaws wrapping around my throat.

'This is for you Seth!' she cried, but I didn't really notice. 'Where were all of these voices coming from? How come I could all of a sudden hear what this little wolf was saying?'

'Little!' she shrieked, completely irate now, but still, all I could do was stare at her with wonder. I had stopped trying to resist her; all I was now thinking about was her voice and how it had gotten into my head.

'She can hear me,' I stated to myself.

I felt her jaws tighten menacingly, but just at the moment when I felt her teeth draw blood as they sunk into my throat, they released. I lay there on my side, not sure why I had just been spared from the female that was now spewing curses at an unimaginable rate.

'I told you to stop Leah!' a voice thundered over the rest that were now arguing with the female. I looked up to see the black wolf standing amongst the other males – five in total – who were all glaring at the gray wolf that was standing over the sandy brown, which I assumed was her brother.

I got up cautiously, and while they were still in the middle of their heated argument I took off, back to the tree that hid my Penny.

It didn't take long to get there, but it felt like forever because I had to be careful not to make any noise to alert the fighting wolves. I could now hear all of their voices in my head, and it was starting to give me a migraine. I wanted to tell them all to just shut up, but that would have brought me back to their attention.

'I don't care if he threw him into a tree Leah, Seth was fine and you knew that!' shouted the deep, booming voice. It sounded strangely calm for someone who was so angry.

'To try and attack a fellow werewolf like that is completely inexcusable!' screamed another.

A small timid voice spoke up. 'Really sis, it didn't hurt me all that much. I don't even have any broken bones –'

'Shut up Seth!' screamed Leah.

By this time I had reached the tree. 'Oh no!' I accidentally shouted as I raced towards the crumpled heap at the bottom of the tree. 'I knew this was a stupid idea!' I thought to myself. 'Penny!' I actually shouted, which came out as a loud bark.

The seemingly unconscious girl jumped up instantly, a big smile on her face. "I knew that you could take care of those mutts, Damien!" she beamed proudly at me. "I pretended I was dead! I'm just as good an actor as you!" she said, just barely managing to keep her voice below a whisper.

'Damien? Is that your name?' asked the same calm voice I now knew belonged to the black wolf, who was the leader.

'I think he's back by that girl he called Penny!' growled an angry voice.

I knew that they were now heading for me – and my Penny. I immediately got down on the ground, and gestured towards my back with a twist of my neck for Penny, which I realized didn't hurt nearly as much as it had five minutes ago. 'That's odd, it was just bleeding like crazy.' I thought to myself.

'Did you actually _try_ to rip his throat Leah?' shouted a voice in disbelief.

'Did you even see what he did to Seth?' Leah retorted back, her voice now a bit calmer but still furious.

"You want to leave now?" Penny asked. "Okay, but let me just go back and fetch your backpack." She smiled and started jogging towards the clearing and the approaching wolves.

'No!' I easily cut Penny off and motioned to my back again.

"Damien we can't just leave it there, all of our stuff is in it!" she said ignorantly before she started running towards the clearing again.

This time when I stopped her I growled gently as I motioned for her to get onto my back.

She really looked frightened now, but thankfully didn't bother to argue this time.

As she jumped onto my heaving body I took off without even checking to make sure she was ready.

"Whoa! I almost fell off back there, Damien! Why are we going so fast?" she asked as I felt her place her hands on my wet shoulders and tried to grasp at my fur to hold on, but they slipped.

"Oh my God, why are you wet? Is this… blood!" she shrieked. "What happened to you Damien, what's going on? Did they hurt you?"

'Obviously,' I thought to myself, a bit too sarcastically considering the circumstances.

We had been running for about ten minutes, heading in the direction I thought would take me away from those other wolves. I must have been doing an excellent job, because I could no longer hear voices in my head – which was a big relief; that migraine was really starting to hurt.

Penny had been unnaturally quiet since I had started running. I had an uncanny feeling that it was because I had growled at her back by the clearing. I truly felt sorry, but I could never communicate that to Penny fully as a wolf. And now that I had completely destroyed my _spare_ set of pants, I think that I was actually stuck as a wolf for the foreseeable future.

I really could not continue with Penny being mad at me like this. I stopped running, slowly this time, so I wouldn't frighten her. I had noticed that Penny had slid down my back, so she was holding onto clean dry fur just past my shoulders. She never liked blood, and I realized that it was stupid (but most of all selfish) of me to expect her to hold on to my bloodstained fur for an unknown amount of time.

"Why are you stopping? Where are we Damien?" she asked, her voice quivering quite a bit, but she tried to hide it. Great – not only had I frightened her, she was actually _afraid_ of me now. I had to find some way of meaningfully apologizing to her.

"Are there more of them?" she squeaked, her voice now clearly fearful. I shook my head, my big shaggy body swaying back and forth as it followed. "I-I don't understand Damien."

I started to shake my body gently, trying to get her off of me, and after about two minutes or so, she finally half-slid, half-tripped off my back. I felt bad for her; I had honestly terrified this poor girl, my Penny.

As she stood there, looking around in every direction with her knees trembling softly, I motioned for her to stay, which I can honestly say was very difficult. After standing there stupidly for an ungodly amount of minutes, it finally came to me. I yelped loudly, yet softly, to catch her attention. I lay down on the ground, and put my hand – well, paw actually – up in the air.

At this Penny smiled weakly, understanding, but still very scared, which was evident by the way her teeth began to chatter slightly. She managed to nod her head. "Okay, I'll wait here."

I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but I think it came out as the kind of smile one gives when they snarl, or smirk perhaps would be a better description of it, because Penny didn't seem very relaxed, or even reassured, by it.

I quickly ran about twenty feet away (close enough to keep Penny within my sight but far enough to not let her see what I was doing) and started to very carefully draw with my paw in the snow.

It was a fairly pathetic attempt at writing "SORRY P", but I drew a sad face beside it, which I think would be enough to let her know how badly I felt, but then an even better idea appeared in my head. I checked that Penny was still in her place, and ran another little ways off, about fifty feet.

I turned back into a human, and while buck-naked, proceeded to roll around in the snow, washing off any blood that I still had anywhere on my body. My back was particularly hard to reach, but it was the most important part because that was where she gripped my shoulders while I ran. The icy snow was unbelievably cold, but at this moment it felt amazingly refreshing as I got to clean off my body from all of the blood and dirt I had accumulated over the last few days. As I did a final check for any more blood, I noticed that the large gashes from the wolf's claws I had received on my stomach were suddenly gone. I felt the back of my neck, and there were no bite marks either! "What the hell is going on here?" I asked myself frustratingly, completely confused now.

'You don't understand! He's one of us!' started to play through my mind over and over again.

I finally snapped out of it and back to reality and realized that I had wasted entirely too much time; I needed to get back to Penny. "PENNY!" I shouted out, hoping my voice that had deepened and increased in volume over the past two months would be able to reach her.

"YES?" I heard her faint voice in reply.

"WALK TOWARDS MY VOICE!"

I quickly dove through the air, morphing back into my wolf form in an instant, my fur shooting out in all directions, slightly wet from all of the snow I had melted, and bolted back towards Penny, now feeling pleased with myself, and both of my brilliant ideas. When I caught up to her she had already reached my message that I had written in the snow. She was standing over it, wearing the biggest grin I had ever seen on her face – and grinning was a daily exercise for my Penny.

I stood beside her, ducking down to rub my head in her hand. She giggled as my soft fur brushed through her equally soft hand. "Thank you, Damien. That makes me feel infinitely better." She leaned over to kiss the top of my muzzle. I grinned (making sure it would be interpreted as a friendly one) and licked her cheek.

"Okay, now it's my turn. I want you to turn around and don't look back." She commanded, her melodious voice firm yet equally gentle. I indulged myself in my curiosity and faced the opposite direction. I stole a quick glance behind me and saw her crouching, writing something in the snow.

I quickly turned back, feeling oddly guilty that I had disobeyed her orders.

"Alright, you can turn back around now."

When I looked back at the spot where Penny had been writing, I saw a big heart, with both of our names inside of it. Besides that she had written: "Thank you for protecting me. _ALL_ the time." I then saw that my sad face had been crossed out, and beside it she had drawn two smiley faces.

I wasn't sure if wolves could cry, because I think I felt like shedding a quick tear or two. This girl really was incredible. I started chuckling to myself as I thought about the hilarity of our predicament. Ten wolves had just attacked us and she had seen that I was badly hurt but now perfectly healed, yet all she could do was thank me. She didn't ask questions; she was just glad that I was there to take care of her. And as long as she wanted me to, I would be the luckiest guy in the world to be able to do it.

"Damien?" she asked.

'Yes?' I turned to look up at her.

But it wasn't Penny who had called my name. I looked past her to see who had called my name. We were both now looking at a beautiful Indian girl – but it was strange because she wasn't Inuit – who standing about twelve feet away. Next to her stood a slightly shorter boy of the same heritage, who I assumed was her brother Seth.

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	5. Bet On It

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Werewolf from the North

Chapter 4 – Bet On It

"Grrr…" I growled violently, jumping in front of Penny. I had no idea what the hell was going on; first I'm being chased by a pack of seemingly normal but odd-colored wolves, then they all start talking in my head, and now they're humans too!

"Now just wait a minute Damien," Penny said quietly, her voice astonishingly calm considering two teenagers had just materialized out of nowhere. She placed one of her small hands on my back and stroked my fur soothingly as she came to stand beside me.

"First of all, what are your names, and secondly, where the hell did the two of you come from?" Penny asked.

'Thank you for removing my authority Penny,' I thought maliciously. She was always more curious than cautious, but at least she was still keeping her guard up.

We stood, watching the two siblings. Leah was very tall for a girl; she was almost my height, perhaps five foot ten or eleven, and very pretty. It might have been the way she fought as a wolf that made me respect her that much more, because even now as she glared at me with such determination I could not help but feel intrigued. As I looked at her perfect oval face I noticed the raven black hair that fell about halfway down her shoulders. She had fairly long bangs, and brushed them to the side to reveal what they had been almost completely covering underneath: the most beautiful pair of hazel eyes – but wait – they were darker than hazel, I just can't think of anything darker at the current moment. 'Hmm, I would have to get back to that soon,' I said to myself.

I turned to look at her brother Seth, who appeared to be the complete opposite of his sister. He was very short, only about five and a half feet tops, and it showed, not only through his small size but by the way he was standing I could tell that he not a very confident kid. The only similarity I could find between the two were their bangs, which seemed to cover his eyes as well, which were the same dark brown color. It might be a challenge fighting his sister, but I was sure I could take him down easily enough.

I thought I could have heard a small whimper creep out of him as I took a menacing step forwards. He tried to walk carefully backwards, but with lightning-fast reflexes Leah grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to her.

"Ow!" he cried as her elbow collided with his bicep. For someone so small he seemed to be fairly muscular. 'I wonder how old he is,' I thought, because he could have passed for someone around the age of thirteen or fourteen, but his body said otherwise.

"Liar! I _knew_ it, Seth!" Leah declared triumphantly, her perfect mouth turning into the kind of grin one has when they have just won some sort of bet. She pushed the sleeve of his sweater up forcefully to inspect his arm, with Seth grimacing in the process. "There!" Leah cried as she jabbed him with her finger, "you can't lie to me, I knew you were bruised!"

Seth jerked his arm away from his sister, but she held on. "You owe me twenty dollars Paul! And don't forget about the ten from yesterday!" she shouted, looking at something behind us.

I unpleasantly snapped my head to the left as I spun around. There was a teenage boy frowning as he looked back at Leah.

"Wait a minute Leah, there's barely even a mark! Paul, you're good, bro," announced another one of the voices I had heard in my head. I spun yet again back to Leah and Seth to see another boy inspecting Seth's arm.

Seth smiled as he high-fived the teenager. "It doesn't even hurt – STOP LEAH!" roared the small boy as he pushed his sister five feet and into a tree after she had punched his arm; whether it was bruised or not was still apparently to be determined. With a resounding "_crack_" the tree bent slightly with the force of Leah's weight. As she stood up I saw that she had left a faint imprint in the now cracked bark.

"Enough you two!" commanded yet another voice. Now standing next to the boy behind us named Paul was a _very_ tall kid with a slightly impish grin on his face, trying to calm the fighting siblings but laughing at their rivalry at the same time. Similarly to the Seth boy, he was very muscular for someone who I could tell was younger than me. Yet he towered over Paul unlike any boy I had ever seen before; it was as if he had had gone through a normal growth spurt at least three times.

It was when the giant of a man started walking towards us that I remembered Penny, who I only noticed because she had stopped stroking and was now tugging roughly at my fur. She moved closer to me, and it was at this point that I felt horribly guilty that I could not take her in my arms and shield her from these crazy Indians. They seemed oddly nice (or friendly at least) considering they had all been wolves that had been trying to kill Penny and me just twenty minutes ago. I still didn't trust them.

I jumped in front of Penny, now barking at the approaching boy. He stopped and smiled as he put his arms up. "We mean you no harm Rover," he said, barely even trying to hide the smile with a straight face.

'Enough!' I barked, my voice booming and serious now as I lunged forward and bit his outstretched hand. He pulled it back, staring at me in wonder. I looked back at Penny, motioning for her to get on my back again. I didn't even really need to tell her; she was already jumping on as I stood up. Her grip had been iron-like before, but compared to now it just downright hurt the way she yanked at my fur. I suppressed a yelp and ran past the mountain-sized boy who was – wait – was he smiling at his bleeding hand? It couldn't be.

I didn't wait for some kind of an explanation, because the one named Paul had let out his own furious roar and was leaping towards me, morphing into a silver wolf just before his front paws touched back down on the ground.

"No Paul!" the bleeding boy shouted as he tried to tackle his friend, but it was too late. Paul was already chasing me as I sped off through the forest once again, this time really afraid it was for dear life.

'I swear to God you will never live another day if you don't cut this shit out!' roared Paul in my head.

'Stay the hell away from me you sick freaks!' I shouted back. 'And get _out_ of my head!'

'Maybe he's right guys, maybe we should just leave him alone –'

'Seth, you say one more word and I will kill you myself!'

'Man that girl's got some temper' I thought, although I immediately regretted it.

'What is this guy's problem?' she screamed.

I could tell that these people (although I'm not sure what they were to be honest, so for now I just called them people) were going to be a lot harder to lose than I had originally thought.

"They're getting closer Damien!" Penny cried, urging me forward. I would have gladly pointed out that they weren't carrying someone on their backs, but cut that idea off quickly; I had just apologized for yelling and I wasn't planning on doing it again. Actually I was mildly surprised that Penny was even able to speak considering how fast I was running, not to mention the way she was being jerked left and right as I weaved through the trees at an – I chuckled – an inhuman pace.

'Pull back everyone!' commanded the leader, whom I didn't notice was speaking with that same eerily calm voice. Wait – how did I know it was the leader? The way he told them to stop sounded different from everything else the wolves had said before; it sounded strong, sure, and final, as if they _had_ to do what he said.

Then the most frightening thing happened: as if I was no longer in my body, I saw my mind flash and I was now chasing _myself_ from about twenty feet away. I was actually running after my own snow-white colored body. 'How can I see myself running?' I asked.

'This kid really _is_ stupid.'

'Shut up Leah, he's obviously brand new!'

'Yeah, why are you so mean all the time?' asked another.

All I heard in reply was a grumble and something that sounded like a swearing, but was quiet for me to hear.

Suddenly I stopped running and became completely oblivious to everything that was happening around me. It was if I was trapped in my mind, and when I realized what was going on it was all too late.

I was now outside of my body. I had stopped running, but from the viewpoint I was now in still running – only now it was towards myself. Was I in someone else's head? What the hell was going on?

'Get him Sam!' I heard Seth shout.

I was now running along side myself, and as I looked up at my back I saw Penny with tears streaming down her face. She turned her head and shrieked at _me_ – at _her_ Damien – as I finally closed in on myself. As I leaped through the air I opened my jaws, and closed them around my own neck, with the weight of my airborne mental body crashing into my actual physical body.

Then, somehow I was back inside of myself – my real self, and my own mind – and I felt the weight of Penny lifted off of me as I was tackled to the ground. If I weren't preoccupied with the teeth that were now around my neck for the second time in less than an hour I would have heard the "_crack_" of my Penny's head crashing into a tree.

'It's time for you to stop. _Now_,' said the irritably smooth voice of the big black wolf that had its jaws around me.

'Penny? Where's Penny!' I yelled frantically, trying to shake my head out of his grasp.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!"

Out of the slimmest corner of my left eye I could see the boy whose hand I had bitten trying to stop the screaming, frightened and flailing Penny that he was holding tightly in his arms.

I tried to get up, but I felt the wolf's mouth tighten.

'Stop moving Damien. Listen to me: we are not going to hurt you.'

"Let go of him you monster!" I heard Penny say a bit more softly. I looked back at her and saw that she had gone limp in the boy's arms. He looked down at her and scowled, not sure if she had given up or fainted, either of which she could have been faking.

I felt my neck drop into the snow as the black wolf named Sam released me.

Sure enough, Penny came right back to life, kicking and screaming at her captor all over again. Despite the situation I couldn't help but give a weak smile; she was a fighter, and for that I was thankful because it helped to make my job much easier.

But then the boy unexpectedly released Penny, and she stumbled forward before falling to her knees. I was almost instantly in front of her, licking her face as she wrapped her arms around my neck and sobbed silently into my fur, her whole body heaving up and down in time with her cries.

There was no way around it though; we were trapped. I looked at our surroundings and almost yelped. In a circle around us now there were seven figures, some humans, some wolves, but all within an arm's distance around us and from each other. I whined softly. I hated it when I wasn't in control.

I don't know how it had happened, so I went back and retraced everything in my mind: first I bit the giant's hand, then the one named Paul started chasing me, with a few others right behind him. But then they all stopped – why? Then I was somehow watching myself run, which made my brain lose focus on what I was actually doing, and then just before I attacked myself, I was back in my own mind. It didn't make any more sense to me than it did as I just explained it.

I heard someone move directly in front of me and looked up at him. He wasn't as tall as the other one, but Sam was just as intimidating, either because he was much more muscular (which didn't really scare me) or because the look on his face told me I would cooperate. It reminded me of the way Father would look at me when I was younger – and he still had control over me.

I hung my head in defeat, and he smiled.

"Good boy," he said, patting my head.

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	6. Fascination

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**Okay, so I'm not really sure if I want to continue with the story. Please COMMENT on the good, bad, ugly - anything.**

Werewolf of the North

Chapter 5 – Fascination

After Penny had coldly explained why I would not change out of my wolf form, the entire group of humans and wolves started laughing.

When she stood up and tried to smack Sam across the face, he was just barely able to stop her, only managing to grab her hand an inch before it touched his face.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said warningly.

"Why?" she asked, now even more incensed because she didn't hit him as she wrenched her hand free.

"Why don't you ask Jacob why?" said one of the boys, which resulted in another round of laughter from the group.

"Shut up Quil," growled Jacob.

"Because," said Sam, drawing the focus back to him, "werewolves are completely indestructible to normal humans. You're very lucky I caught you because if I hadn't stopped you just now you would have broken your hand."

Penny's hand fell limply back to her side, her mouth turning into a slight "o" in awe and shock.

"It's one of the perks," Sam said, shrugging off her reaction. "Now, I think we have an extra pair of clothes we can spare for your friend Damien. Embry," I think you will have something that'll fit best."

Embry, despite looking upset that he was the one who had to share, complied wordlessly and pulled a pair of fleece pants out of the backpack he was carrying. He tossed them to Penny, who managed to catch them unexpectedly. She looked back at me, smiling, proud of herself.

"Do you want your jacket back too? I don't really need it," she started, but didn't bother to argue when I shook my head and walked off. If I really was a werewolf, the last thing I needed to be worrying about right now was a jacket, which I didn't need anyways.

When I came back the situation was more or less the same: Penny standing awkwardly while surrounded by seven people, only they had all changed back into their human form, and were fully clothed. I assumed they were now experts at changing by now. When Sam noticed me he threw over a shirt, which I put on. I didn't feel comfortable around them already, and the way Penny – and Leah I noticed as well – were gaping when I came out from behind the tree made it worse. I smiled lightly; at least Penny had the luxury of not being able to blush.

I moved back to my place besides Penny, who was holding out her arms expectantly. She must have felt the most out of place; at least I could turn into a wolf. She was just a human. I felt her arms tighten even more around my torso as she looked around.

"I suppose I should just start with the basics then," sighed Sam, as if he had plenty of experience in explaining this. "You are a werewolf; you have the ability to turn into a wolf at will." He paused when I scoffed at him. After two months of going through transformations it was now pretty obvious. He looked at me patiently, waiting to continue. "Well, most of the time actually. When you are a new werewolf it is very hard to control your transformations –"

"No it's not."

Everyone couldn't help but smile at what they thought was my arrogance, but Sam merely frowned.

"What do you mean 'no'? No one can control their condition right off the bat. Whenever you reach your breaking point – which is when you can no longer withstand the amount of rage inside of you. Don't worry, you might _think_ that you can stop it, but nobody has ever been able to fully control it within the first two years."

Sam was clearly becoming irritated when he didn't see the smile disappear from my face. "Not even our Jacob," he said, gesturing to the mountainous boy beside him, "could control it, and he's a full blooded werewolf." Jacob looked down, a little embarrassed, but that just made me smile wider. I could already tell that I was going to hate him, so any little bit of leverage I could have over him I would take.

"He watched his father shoot his mother dead, then pull the trigger on himself. I walked with him for twenty minutes before he offered to carry me on his back. Maybe he might just have more willpower than _your_ Jacob does," Penny retorted back as she looked up at me and smiled.

I could tell that she was enjoying this just as much as I was. She was proud to have the werewolf that was so strong he could even control his fury when apparently it was supposed to be impossible. "Maybe he's just better." I squeezed her tight, but not too tight.

If there was anything I was finding hard to manage since the day of my Mother's death, it was my happiness. I guess when you are so used to being miserable and depressed rage comes easily. But joy, that was an emotion I was very new to. Yet the more and more I was around Penny I found it came so freely. I was never – could never – be angry around her, that I was sure of. Why would I even want to be?

"I'm so sorry Damien. We know how you feel; we lost our father too," said Seth, who obviously cared deeply for his father. I didn't.

"I hated Father. Did you ever lose your Mother?" After seeing them both shake their heads in response I scowled. "Then I severely doubt you understand. Was your Father a drunk? Did he threaten you, beat you or lock you in the closet for two days? No? Then you have no clue. I was happy when the bastard died."

Nobody moved, nobody even said a word. I smiled; glad to have finally silenced them. The entire time they had been making judgments, taking in secret observations, talking quietly to each other, but I had finally shut them up.

"Got any more _basics_ for me then, Sam?" I asked, using his name to accentuate my distaste.

"You don't know your own strength," he answered, now angry that I was being so difficult.

"And your temperature is much higher than that of a human's. It's about one-hundred and eight degrees, so make sure you never go near hospitals or touch random strangers. You don't need hospitals anymore because werewolves heal at an extremely fast rate. A normal cut on a human would take a day or two, but on one of us it will be gone within the hour." He smiled smugly, a little more complacent because he had finally offered up a trait that I had been unaware of. Well, not unaware of, but couldn't previously explain. I wouldn't give him full credit for that one...

"Well that explains why there weren't any scars on me before," I said thoughtfully to Penny.

While I was debating whether the calm and collected leader – or alpha (I wasn't completely stupid when it came to wolves) dog – was still useful, or whether I should just take Penny and leave now, I saw his eyes shift from me to Penny, who was still clutching me as Sam now stared at her in wonder. Yet he didn't say anything; it was as if there was something else he was holding back…

"Sam, you don't think that she's his –" asked one of the shorter but more muscular boys, but he was cut off.

"Of course she isn't Quil shut up," whispered Leah defensively.

"How would you even know Leah?" asked another boy. I could tell by the looks on most of their faces that Leah was usually – if not constantly – an annoyance. Yet to me I enjoyed what they probably called her arrogance. I always called it confidence, and I actually found her boldness to be rather refreshing.

As I took in her now disgruntled appearance I could have sworn that she looked similar to those girls back in town whenever I would reject them. Many would always try to mask their embarrassment, but I think if they had shown their anger they would have resembled Leah as she looked now. When I came back from my memory I found that I was smiling at Leah.

"What do you want?" she asked contemptuously.

I shook my head knowingly and chuckled. "What do _you_ want Leah?"

She growled as many of the boys laughed, but I saw the blush she was trying to hide. All of a sudden I was regretting my remark. I shouldn't have made her feel upset. She deserved more than that –

"Tell him about the you-know-what Sam," continued Quil, who was starting to get on my nerves because he wouldn't just spit out whatever he was thinking. I made a note to ask if they could still communicate as humans. I barely stifled a gasp – could they hear my thoughts now?

Sam took my silence as an invitation to continue. "Unlike humans, when a werewolf finds their mate, the connection runs much deeper than just being in love. There is a bond between them that cannot be broken; the two people are soul mates. In other words, they are the perfect matches for each other. They balance their partner in every way imaginable; they have some similarities that attract each other at first, but then they discover that their partner is everything they aren't. Usually," he sort of added as an afterthought.

I heard Penny suck in a small breath of air. I didn't think her grip on me could have been any tighter. She looked up at me appraisingly and I immediately knew what she was thinking. I smiled down at her.

Why not? The more that I thought about it the more it made sense: she was the pretty, talkative, outgoing girl who had always been unwavering in her loyalty to me since the day we met two years ago. I was always simple, quiet, reflective – and always protective of her.

While I was busy working it all out inside my head I failed to notice that the group had split up; Sam, Quil and another were now talking in a tight huddle while the others had left to chase after Leah, who had apparently left when Sam began talking about soul mates.

"Damien," Penny asked, her sweet voice drawing back my attention, "could you be my soul mate?"

I paused for a second to think about it a little further. In all honesty I wasn't opposed to the idea of having Penny as my soul mate. I liked her – well, _loved_ her if she was indeed my soul mate. I had never really dealt with love before; it was a new concept to me. But now as I stared into Penny's beautifully hazel eyes I decided that it was something I was willing to try.

"I think I am Penny, I think I am."

Any grin I had ever thought was big before was left far behind this time. She jumped up on her toes to kiss me on the lips. It was a little too short for my liking; so I bent down to do it again. It felt incredible to have her soft lips brushing against mine, to be holding her tightly in my arms without fear of ever having to let her go. I had never been electrocuted before, but I was pretty sure there was a jolt of electricity now running up and down my spine as I inhaled her beautiful scent. I would have to explore this further with her, I told myself.

As I looked back around me I noticed Sam and the other two watching us with curiosity. I heard a shout behind me and saw a freshly caught Leah breaking free of her captors to go storming off again through the dense forest, leaving two boys to laugh at a moaning Jacob, who had been thrown upside-down into a tree.

"She's got quite the temper doesn't she?" said Penny disapprovingly.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for her though. "I'm sure she's got her reasons," I said as I watched her walking off into the distance.

The entire time I had felt an odd pain growing stronger in my stomach. It was as if a black hole had ripped my middle in two and one half was being pulled rather forcefully away.

I wanted it to stop badly, and looked down at Penny to mention it, but once I looked back into her eyes the feeling disappeared entirely, as if her gaze had melted it away.

"Penny appears to be your imprint Damien," Sam stated, although I detected a hint of hesitancy in his voice. I shrugged off the observation and chose to just let him be right for once. When he saw my confusion he let out a smile and answered, "an imprint is just what we werewolves call our soul mates."

"Yes, she is," I answered, squeezing her tightly.

"I have to say though, we are all very curious as to where a young werewolf and his imprint would be traveling to in the middle of the Yukon winter."

I frowned; not only were these werewolves unbelievably persistent, they were annoyingly intrusive as well.

"I'm sorry, but I can't see how our plans are any of your business," I said bluntly.

"That's because they aren't any of our business." He may have been a little irritating, but he was honest, that I had to give him.

"We're heading to Denali, Alaska. The Inuit traders that come through our town would tell us stories; they mentioned a few about a tribe of men who could turn into wolves living in Denali." As soon as the word "Denali" had left my lips I saw six pairs of eyes flash to stare at my face. I took a moment to enjoy the tension I had caused, all the while leaving the unsettling silence to grow, then continued. "Have you heard of the place?" I asked with a smile.

I might have unnerved them before, but I definitely had them all frightened now. Except for Sam – who kept his face from showing any emotion. I felt myself feeling irritated that he would never give in to any of my remarks. I can't explain why, but for some reason I wanted to see him explode with rage. I suppose it was curiosity now that I think about it, but there seemed to be something more. Maybe I was turning vindictive?

"Yes, we know the place; we just came from there." I saw the worried glances that they were all sharing as Sam kept his eyes locked on mine, as if he was trying to get into my head or something.

"Is that the only reason you want to go there, Damien?" he asked mysteriously. I never wanted him to say my name again.

"Yes," I answered back. I wonder if he noticed the slight bit of uncertainty I had purposely injected into that single word.

"Now really is not the time for people to be going to Denali. _Anyone_ for that matter," he said, the warning clear in his voice.

"I think we'll be okay, won't we, Penny?" I asked her.

Penny had not been paying much attention at all (I think she was still dealing with the fact that the boy of her dreams had admitted to being her eternal soul mate, which really was a lot to take in all at once), yet she loyally looked at Sam and nodded her head in agreement.

"There you are. Now if you don't mind us, we will be on our way. It was… quite intriguing to meet you all. Tell Leah I said goodbye," I said with a sarcastic grin. I heard Seth let out a small chuckle but stopped as Embry silenced him with a jab in the arm.

I tried to move, but Penny was still holding on to me, so I carefully pulled off her arms and took her by the hand a few yards away behind a tree. She came back to life again as I kissed her on the forehead. "Thank you for staying with me, Penny."

"No matter where, what, or when, Damien. You know I will always be with you, right?"

I winked at her, and tried out a smile. Not a smile that showed my delight at someone else's displeasure though – this one was pure happiness. It felt good to smile. I should try it more often. "I thought there would be no more questioning?"

She gave me a tight squeeze. "I've had enough – can we just go to Denali now to get you figured out?" She lowered her voice and leaned in to me, her sweet-smelling breath hitting me full force. "And leave those people behind?" she asked, her voice almost pleading.

Without another word spoken I had her on my back and was off dashing through the forest in less than three minutes. _And_ I remembered to take off the clothes first.

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	7. Just the Girl

**This chapter is dedicated to a friend, and it doesn't nearly do enough justice to her situation, but I tried, and I hope she knows that.**

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Werewolf of the North

Chapter 6 – Just the Girl

The day after we left 'Sam and friends' (as I preferred to call them) was a boring one. We had already crossed into Alaska, that I was sure of, but other than that I didn't quite know where we were, only the direction we were heading.

I had left Penny in charge of starting the fire in our little makeshift camp, although I laughed to myself as I thought about how much I had actually left her with. All she basically had to do was light the match and build the flames high enough until I returned.

It was strange though, because ever since yesterday when I really opened myself up to Penny I felt this overpowering need to provide for _my_ girl, _my_ Penny, _my_ imprint. I loved the word imprint; it sounded so final, so personal. Every time I said it in my head it felt so definitive.

As I chased down an elk this time – and made sure to clean up as much blood as possible – and was on my way back to Penny, I smelled the strangest scent. It was the complete opposite of Penny's; her smell was sweet and fresh and pure, like apples, which were very rare to find in the barren north.

This smell was sweet too, but sickly sweet, like when you taste a lemon – for a split-second it tastes delicious, but your body always trembles as your tongue processes the bitter, sour taste.

Nevertheless I chuckled at my fruit analogy; now that I was a werewolf all I ever thought about when it came to food was meat.

I dropped the elk that I had been carrying by the neck; it's large body making a soft "_thud_" as it landed in the snow. It was twilight and I was already anxious to be leaving Penny all alone in this never-ending forest, but as I peered around me through the endless supply of snow-covered evergreens I felt as if I needed to investigate.

Penny would be safe for now I suppose.

I took off running about half a mile away from Penny and proceeded to circle our campsite. Just as I thought: the scent was coming from inside the perimeter I made. I growled, hoping whatever it was would hear my voice and scatter, but either way I couldn't be sure.

The sunlight was fading fast, and would be gone within the hour if not sooner. While I walked the elk back I noticed that it had ceased to drip blood from the large gash I had created in its neck. 'Odd,' I thought, but shrugged it off as a mere happening.

"Ooh, that's a big elk, I think it is?" She beamed proudly as I grinned her favorite wolfy grin. Despite Penny's extensive camping abilities, she did not know much about animals.

I quickly disappeared behind a tree and morphed back into my lean human form. I felt along my back, searching for the scar that I knew I wouldn't find there. It was simply incredible how I traced my fingers along my abs – which had thankfully become much more defined since my transformation – and felt no scar or saw no discoloration; there was nothing but rock-hard muscle under my perfectly cream-colored skin.

As I pulled on Embry's fleece pants that I had managed to keep in a single piece since yesterday I smelled that weird lime scent, which was even weirder because originally I thought it had been lemon.

"Penny, do you smell anything? Citrusy, perhaps?" I asked as I walked back towards her. When I realized she was staring at my chest again I pulled on the sweater that I did not need over my head. My hair, which had been growing much faster than usual, had pushed my bangs back down into my eyes. I brushed them aside. I hadn't looked in a mirror in over three days, but I had a feeling the semi-short hair I usually had parted in the middle would look much more unkempt and shaggy. I would often observe Penny looking wistfully at it, so I left it that way.

She laughed. "Citrus? Out here? Sorry Damien, but all I smell is the fire. _And_ you," she said slightly seductively I think as she walked forward to hug me tightly.

We did a lot of hugging; I had never been one to talk much, let alone hug, but now that I was opening up Penny would embrace me every chance she could get. She would always grin knowing that I would never object.

"Did I ever tell you how much you smell like the outdoors?" She sniffed me, her eyes closing as she took in my scent. "It's like a burning fire mixed with that peppercorn stuff Daddy used to put on the steaks in summertime…" she faltered.

I hated it when she talked about her family, but only because she looked so sad, even when she was staring at me. She had begun to do it more often, but who was I to tell her to stop? She had sacrificed so much for me that I had no right whatsoever to tell her to move on or forget them. Besides, I still remembered them every once in a while and the kindness they had treated me with.

As she left her memory and looked back up at me I smiled the sad smile one gives when they can think of no better reaction to someone who says something sad. "I hate it when you're sad, Penny," I whispered.

She cleared her throat. "I'm not sad Damien, really, I'm not." She tried to give me a reassuring smile, but it wasn't very effective. "I don't regret leaving at all, it's just that sometimes I wish I could have given them a proper goodbye. But that's not you're fault Damien," she hastily added when she saw the downtrodden look on my face. "I couldn't be happier that I have you. Truly."

I squeezed her tightly again, and inhaled her beautiful scent. Every time I smelled it I felt completely at peace with the world.

Penny released herself from my grasp. "Damien, I think it's pretty clear what you are now, and I think it's even clearer that I don't care." I think she knew that I saw the hesitation in her eyes that she tried to hide from me, but she pressed on. "Will you please finally tell me how you became a werewolf?"

I smiled, which seemed to surprise her. "Of course I will. There are no more secrets now, okay? None whatsoever." She took my hands in hers and silently nodded her promise.

I easily lifted her up in my arms and placed her in my lap besides the fire so that she would stay warm. And if we were near the fire hopefully whatever was in the woods wouldn't come near us…

I took a deep breath, trying to gather all of my thoughts. "So do you remember how two months ago I didn't want to be around you anymore?" I paused to allow a chuckle from both of us. _Obviously_ she knew why now. "Well first of all I want you to know that I am unimaginably sorry for trying to ignore you, my obscene rudeness, and my general unpleasantness that you have had to deal with. I couldn't be happier that I have you. Truly."

Penny smiled gently at my borrowed words. "How could I not forgive you?"

I chuckled. "Fair enough. Well, around that time was when Father had received his new shipment of hunting rifles." I stopped to grin. "Naturally, being the hell raiser that I am, I hid some of them."

I remembered where this story was actually heading, and wiped the smile off of my face, not able to look at Penny anymore, and she looked worried as she saw my expression change so suddenly. "I didn't expect him to come home drunk though… it was my fault that he blamed my Mother –"

The first tear fell and stopped. I promised myself that I would not let that happen. Anything but the tears, anything but those – _they_ were the surefire sign of weakness. I couldn't be anything but strong for my Penny, or my Mother, or myself.

"I swear that I could hear the shouting from all the way down the road. She could always handle him, but this time I wasn't sure. He was so loud, and I heard her screaming louder and louder until I had to run home. I got home just in time to see her falling down the stairs," I said slowly, trying to contain myself.

I was without a doubt truly a pathetic person: after Penny put her soft hand to my face and wiped away the streams that had slowly begun to creep down my warm face I could contain the sobs no longer.

"…It was my fault, my fault…"

Penny pulled me close and softly stroked my cheek as I wept into her shoulder. She knew about what went on in my house, but until now I could never bring myself to actually describe it.

"What happened next, Damien?" she quietly asked, but being the girl she is she was able to make her words feel like an invitation to continue, not a demand. She waited patiently for me to pull myself back together.

I think it must have been at least fifteen unbearable minutes of silence. Not exactly silence, but a combination of my whimpering and weeping.

"I ran away – back into the woods – like always." I felt my little episode subsiding just a tad, but it was enough for me to continue.

After seventeen long years of having to go through life with only my mother, the realization that I now was without her, that I could no longer walk home to her open arms after she had taken the brunt of Father's anger, had finally sunk in.

But I wasn't actually alone, not really. I had Penny, who completed me, who was here for me now, holding me in her fragile arms.

Despite all of my inner turmoil that I had dragged back to the surface after trying to keep hidden for so many years, there was a piece of me that wasn't feeling completely depressed. As oddly as it sounds, I could detect a small portion of myself that was elated at the fact that I was sitting here now, free from my past, in the arms of my Penny.

"I went back into the woods. I don't even remember where I was going; I guess I was just walking. I had gotten in pretty far, and then I smelled this odd smell. It was almost like the one I just smelled before – citrus – only it smells off a bit, like it's bad for you. I started following it, and the closer I got the more I felt my body start to shake. I thought I was having a seizure or something, but I just could not stop. It was as if I _had_ to find the source no matter what."

I stopped as the memory came back to me at full force. Penny was slightly startled at my sudden pause, but waited silently for me to continue.

I rubbed my forehead as I continued. "Then there she was… in another one of those clearings. I couldn't see her really because she wasn't facing me, she was crouched down low over an animal…I thought she was checking to see if it was okay, but I heard a sucking noise." I shuddered uncontrollably as I recalled the sound; it had been so faint I could barely hear it. "I tried to get a better view of her face, but she had long brown hair that was covering all of her face. I tried to get closer, but it was as if there was something stopping me when I got too close. My seizures were almost beyond my control, and even though I was only a few yards away she ignored me."

"Damien, what was she doing?" Penny whispered, almost too afraid to ask.

"When she finally looked up at me, I saw the blood running down her chin."

"No…" was all that came out of Penny as she dug her head into my chest.

"She was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. All I could do was stand there and shake violently – there was so much anger and hatred inside of me that I felt as if I would explode at any second," I noted a bit too thoughtfully for Penny, now understanding the sensation perfectly. "But the instant I saw the blood, that was my limit. I literally thought that I had exploded, because my body stretched out and I felt my clothes shoot off of me, and my skin had been entirely replaced with fur. I tried to stand up, but I was stuck on all fours, and I couldn't even touch my hand to my face. I wasn't human anymore.

"She was laughing, which came out as a loud cackling noise in front of me, and now my urgings to rip this woman to shreds had only intensified as I stared at her perfectly white face. Her skin was too light though, and somehow I felt inside of me that she wasn't human, that she was going to hurt more animals, and soon people too. She was too flawless, and when she was suddenly standing right in front of me I knew that she was no more human than I was."

Penny stared up at me, the horror etched on her face. "So the t-trader st-stories are true? W-was s-she –"

The realization finally hit her smack in the face and she started looking around frantically, searching the forest for any sign of movement as her hands clutched to my shirt. I smiled stupidly, thinking how if I was anyone else her grip might have been irritating – or even hurt – but because I was now human-proof I barely felt any of it.

Penny shrieked as she looked over my shoulder.

I was seriously starting to get pissed off. I stood up, still holding Penny in my arms, ready to tell these stupid werewolves off once and for all; hell, I would fight them if I had to.

"Welcome to Alaska, Damien."

I shifted Penny onto my back, not sure whether I should run or not.

"Son of a b-" I started, but the blonde was already standing right in front of me. She punched me in the chest, and the force sent me flying back. I managed to land on my feet, but heard a loud "_crunch_" sound and a yelp escape Penny as we collided with someone behind us. That lime scent was now flooding my nostrils, and it took every ounce of my will to not transform right there; the force would have crushed Penny against the brunette vampire I thought I would never meet again – that was now right behind us.

I tried to run, but I felt her arms wrap around Penny as she tried to pull her off.

Amidst the screams of Penny and the growls of the blonde that was now helping her partner, I thought I heard a howl far off in the distance. "HELP!" I shouted, but as I focused on making my voice heard I let my grip on Penny slip.

I fell forward, landing face first in the snow. I jumped back onto my feet. 'Screw the clothes,' I told myself, and was now chasing desperately after my Penny, who had been kidnapped by two beautiful vampires, and I _knew_ these women wouldn't be as kind as the werewolves.

After running for what seemed like at least five miles they split up, the blonde tossing Penny twenty feet in the air over to the brown-haired, almost throwing her into a tree in the process. I instinctively headed towards the one who had my Penny, but the blonde managed to jump on my back and half push half choke me into the ground. Her hands reeked of lemon, which definitely wasn't helping.

"Just calm down Damien, and everything will be okay," she crooned into my ear. Her tone changed, and she cackled. "Well, for your friend at least, but that depends on her decision. Now what is a cute little wolfy like you doing on our hunting grounds?" she asked, completely serious now. "All of your friends left yesterday."

"He didn't know that this was our land Tanya," said a gentle male voice. I forced my head up from the blonde's hands and saw what looked like a vampire, only he must have been Hispanic at one point because his skin seemed much tanner than the snow-white hands of Tanya.

"It doesn't matter Eleazar," she said spitting on my head in the process. "It is completely unacceptable for all of these _dogs_ to be trespassing on my family's land, whether they know it or not. And this one willingly brings a pretty human girl," she said, almost ravenously, and as I felt her grip on my neck tighten I knew that Penny was in much more danger than I had ever expected.

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	8. Can't Fight the Moonlight

**_PLEASE REVIEW - and I'm really sorry I haven't added anything in a while I've been on vacation at the beach._**

Werewolf of the North

Chapter 7 – Can't Fight the Moonlight

"Wait a minute." The oddly out of place Latino paused to laugh. He wasn't lanky, but I could tell that he was very tall even from this vantage point. And by the looks of the t-shirt he was wearing I could see that he did have a fair bit of muscle. I wonder if they have high temperatures too? "This is a different dog – he wasn't with the others." He smiled knowingly. "He's just a _pup_."

Those were the wrong words though because I only felt the hungry vampire's grip tighten instead of loosen. Damn it; just like any other female animal – and that's what these vampires are, animals – I could tell she was much more violent than her friend. As I focused on her fingers I noticed that they were ice cold, which was the complete opposite of my fever-feeling temperature.

"I was going to suggest that we allow him to explain, but go right ahead Tanya," he said, staring at me coldly. "Anyone who calls us animals – especially coming from a mutt – deserves to be killed."

I choked under Tanya's stranglehold, which resulted in laughter from the pale demons. "You can't hide from me niño," Eleazar replied quietly as he tapped his temple and grinned. "I can see your thoughts."

"Now the only thing I am having trouble making up my mind on," declared Tanya, taking control of the situation again with her seductive voice, "is whether we should kill him now or let him watch us kill the girl first."

I saw the male smile and assumed they were communicating silently. "Yes, she is his imprint, so it would be a brilliant idea, Tanya."

There was now no doubt in my mind that a wolf could not make a quizzical, shocked, and angry expression all at once, which he continued to laugh at.

As the Latino continued to smile devilishly at me another vampire suddenly appeared beside him. "What are we doing with the girl, my love?" inquired the newly arrived female, who had skin exactly like the males'. She planted a deep kiss on his lips, and I could tell that they must have been imprints, or whatever vampires call it, because I seriously doubted they would be using werewolf terminology. She giggled loudly as he whispered into her ear and kissed her neck. "Excellente! You are a genius Tanya! What a wonderful idea, making the imprint a vampire. How _tragic_," she said, emphasizing the last word as she grinned gleefully at me and leaned back, sweeping her arm across her forehead in mock concern.

I barked at her, and Eleazar pulled the girl into him and draped his arms across her. Their smiles both faded and they proceeded to hiss at me, which reminded me of snakes, another animal I had always hated but was now being brought up again…

The male chuckled. "We are much more dangerous than snakes, _that_ I can promise you." I hated his voice; it reminded me of those Spaniards who go around serenading people with their guitars that I had seen in the movies.

However his irritatingly devious smile suddenly vanished. What happened next I was completely unprepared for; first I felt the iron-like grip release and then the weight of the sitting Tanya completely lifted from my back.

As I looked around, ready to thank my savoir, I groaned instead. It was a medium-sized gray wolf: Leah.

'Great,' I moaned, forgetting she could hear me.

'Hey! If it wasn't for me they would've killed you by now!' she shouted.

'First, I wasn't doing that badly by myself, and really, you couldn't have sent someone else to help?'

'No," she replied rather softly; despite the fact that she was wrestling with a furious vampire.

'I have to go find Penny,' I stated rather angrily myself, but as I turned to go I realized that I couldn't leave Leah here, fighting a vampire while two more circled around her. Not only that, but the little piece of me that seemed to be missing had mysteriously returned when Leah showed up. Yet _another_ separate piece of me felt stolen away with the disappearance of my Penny. I stood, torn between staying to help this annoyingly spunky girl and finding my imprint.

The decision was made for me though, because at that moment a soft, gentle voice spoke in my head: 'We have your imprint, stay and help Leah, Damien.'

I had never heard this small female voice in my head before, and I couldn't remember seeing or hearing another female in Leah's pack, so were there even more werewolves? And how the hell did they _all_ know my name? Nevertheless I felt that I could trust this voice, so I put my focus back on the situation at hand.

I had maneuvered myself so that I was standing as close to Leah as possible without getting in the way. As I watched her graceful attacks, her lithe body twisting and turning as they circled each other, or they way she feigned a swipe at the blonde vampire I couldn't help but notice how beautiful her coat looked; it wasn't just gray: there were drops of water on her fur from colliding into the snow and she was just close enough to the fire pit we had made earlier to reflect the light. She was extremely appealing, and how had I not noticed that before I do not know.

But then I felt something in my stomach return to me, and I felt completely whole again; I turned and saw Penny sitting atop the biggest wolf I had seen yet. And wait – was his fur _blue_? It looked turquoise blue, but that was impossible – wasn't it? Then a violet female wolf came to stand beside the blue one, then another female - only dark green, then a male rusty-orange one, and then, a small in size but not in presence female wolf (who I could tell instantly was the Alpha) came to stand directly in the middle of the other four – and she had blonde fur? It wasn't sandy brown like Seth's but as if she had used her natural hair color for her fur.

They were the oddest-looking pack of werewolves I had ever seen, but I could tell that they were all experienced and serious, especially the way their minds weren't all shouting out at each other. Actually, they weren't saying anything at all.

The second that Tanya noticed the arrival of the blonde wolf, who's fur curiously matched her hair, she stood up, her previous snarl now an all out look of hatred, but calmness at the same time if that makes any sense. The other two vampires had now found their way back into each other's arms and were hissing loudly at the appearance of this pack of wolves.

Leah took this to mean she had lowered her guard, but Tanya merely sidestepped her as she flew through the air. Leah crashed into a tree, and I knew my Penny was safe, but I felt compelled to further the distance between us even more and run to Leah. I had to know that she was okay – that she too was safe.

'Leah! Are you all right? You hit that tree hard.'

'Of course I'm all right, I'm a friggin' werewolf for god's sake! Wait a minute-' she paused as she looked up into my eyes, her piercingly dark round orbs meeting mine, 'did you just say my name?' I sniggered, which came out audibly as a snort, but I didn't care. All she was concerned about was that I used her name. 'So we're on speaking terms now?'

I chuckled again. 'I didn't realize we ever weren't.'

'Oh, well-' but before she could retort, although I didn't think this time it would have been so mean, she was cut off by a new female voice.

'Leah! Pay attention! And you too Damien!'

It suddenly occurred to me what was going on around us, so I turned back around, remembering that my Penny was safe again, and a wave of calm washed over me.

I also noticed that there was now only the blue and orange wolves left, who were both standing in front of Penny now. I looked around to see three Inuit women, one with green hair, one with purple, and one with blonde hair, walking out of the forest, fully clothed.

The thing I noticed most about these women was how varying in age they were: the purple haired one must have been at least mid-thirties if not more, while the purple was surely in her late twenties. The most striking one was the blonde, who was not only less than four and a half feet, but looked barely thirteen. Yet all three of them walked barefoot and with a confidence and air of determination that could not be matched, even by the vampires. They were all gorgeous – perhaps not as attractive as the vampires, but they each were of a fair build: slender, yet strong and agile. Despite the fact that none of their hair colors matched (especially the blonde's) their dark Indian skin, they all seemed to look like they belonged, like they were supposed to look that way.

"Tanya," spoke the youngest girl, who was flanked by the purple and green haired women. She looked cute in her white jumper, but "cute" didn't seem a term that was fitting for the leader of a pack of werewolves, no matter how young she was.

"Reyna, we do not appreciate you interrupting our evening meal," Tanya replied curtly. I saw her gaze directly at Penny, and my fury was released in a booming bark. Tanya seemed to remember me, and as she turned to stare at me she glowered. "Let alone when we are dealing with a canine problem." I finally had a good look at the three vampires, and noticed that they were impeccably well dressed in modern clothing, but similarly to the werewolves did not wear coats.

"Damien is but a child; he has been a wolf for not even three months." How did this little girl know that? "And how dare you, claiming to be a vegetarian coven, hunt down a teenage girl!" For some reason it was particularly odd hearing someone so young call Penny a teenage girl, most likely because this Reyna was barely a teen herself.

I wanted to speak up in my defense and say that the vampires had attacked us, but I could not speak in my wolf form. I sensed a tugging on my tail, and saw Leah, already changed and in human form, holding out a t-shirt and pair of pants.

I gratefully took them and changed, and ran over to my beautiful penny, who was now shivering from the sweat that had frozen to her skin. I embraced her with my warmth, her auburn hair sweeping around me. I noticed a frown quickly flit across Leah's face, but the second our eyes met it disappeared and she looked away.

"How dare you accuse my _family_ of feasting on a human!" snarled Tanya, "when it is _you dogs_ who live in the town!"

"Our side of the boundary includes the town, but we do not live in it Tanya. _We_ are the ones who protect the town, as you may recall, from intruders such as you're sister's friend Laurent. Remember him?"

Once again, it was most peculiar to see this young girl acting so calm, while the vampire seemed to be at her breaking point.

The other female vampire spoke up. "Tanya, where are Irina and Kate? They should have returned by now."

"Carmen makes a good point," said her partner, but when he heard the turquoise wolf make a sound that I assumed was a laugh he turned murderous. "Where are they?" he asked in a controlled voice that couldn't hide his anger.

"Relax, Eleazar," and I saw the girl's tiny features allow a smirk to quickly appear on her face as he cringed at the usage of his name, "your sisters are in a stable condition. We did not do them extreme harm, but since they seemed to have forgotten the warning we gave them last time – _and_ refused to release the girl – we had no choice."

I saw the blue wolf look at the rusty one and they both grinned as they tried to suppress laughs, and I couldn't help but let out a chuckle, but quickly stifled it into the back of Penny's head. The other two weren't so lucky, because the look they received from the Reyna girl was murderous, and I never imagined a girl of that age was capable of such a look.

"MY SISTERS!" screamed Tanya, immediately rushing off like a speeding bullet back into the night.

"You dogs are despicable," uttered Eleazar. "We shall return, and we have not forgotten about the three of you," he stated coldly as his girl bared her teeth at us. I turned my head and saw that Leah had silently joined us, so she was standing beside me with Penny on my left. Then they too took off holding hands after Tanya.

We were all kind of just standing there for a few minutes while the three women – or two women and young girl – talked quietly.

"_You_ two," said Reyna, who pointed at the two wolves, "now," and she walked out of the clearing also, with the two wolves following, hanging their heads low.

The woman with the green hair approached us, and after greeting Leah she turned to face us. "After what just happened this is not much of a welcome, but greetings, Damien, and I believe you are Penny." We both nodded, and she continued. "We will explain soon, but first we must get off the bloodsuckers' soil." She too took off after the other three, leaving us with the purple-haired girl, who was much more friendly.

"Ooh I'm sooo excited you're back Leah!" and she jumped forward, sweeping a startled but nevertheless surprised Leah up into a tight embrace. "And it's great to meet you two as well," and she used her big arms to wrap the both of us up into a bear hug. Her face went solemn for a minute, and I could tell she was the kind of person who wasn't serious often. "Reyna's just dealing with Gene and Blair – and they really shouldn't have laughed the way they did to be perfectly honest – but everything's okay so don't worry about anything. Ohhh I'm sooo excited that there's more of you this is excellent!" She finally released us from the bone-cracking hug and as Penny massaged her arms the girl started talking to Leah again.

"Oh and I'm Kendra by the way," she added as a happy afterthought to us. "So are the rest of them coming Leah?"

"I expect so; I've been gone long enough" she sort of replied glumly.

I agreed with her. 'More vampires, great,' I thought to myself, _and_ more werewolves, _plus_ the old ones.

I quietly took Penny's hand in mine and followed after the prancing purple-haired werewolf, with a pathetically sad-looking Leah trudging behind us.

**_PLEASE REVIEW_****_ - I REALLY want to know what you think, so PLEASE tell me! And don't worry 'Sam and Friends' will all be returning, I just want to work on the Damien Penny Leah thing right now. And all of those random names I mention are the Denali werewolf pack, who I will describe a tiny bit because I am one of those background story kind of people but then it will be all about the Quileute Pack and the Denali Clan, so don't worry!_**


	9. Unwell

**_PLEASE REVIEW :D_**

Werewolf of the North

Chapter 8 – Unwell

"Damien?"

"Yes Penny?" We had been walking for at least four miles, so I had stopped to allow her to get on my back.

"Nothing, never mind," she decided quietly, but I knew it must have been important because Penny always speaks her mind.

"Are you sure?" I pressed further gently, always gently with my Penny.

"Well, it's just that…I'm not really sure at all how to say this, Damien, but something tells me that that Leah girl is dangerous."

'No! Leah is an incredible fighter, a beautiful girl, and a kind human!' I instantly shouted to myself in my head. "What do you mean dangerous?"

"She looks at me as if… no I'm sorry she was extremely helpful back there with the vampires I shouldn't even be bringing this up I-I'm just being stupid never mind," and she buried her head back into my shoulder.

I had never seen her act like this before, but seeing as how I was also completely unsure of how to deal with it I kept silent. Besides, not even _I_ really knew what was going on with that strange Indian girl, but I was _absolutely positive_ that she wasn't bad. There was something inside of me, that when I was around her told me it was okay, and that I was safe. In fact, it kind of felt the same as whenever I'm around Penny –

"It's just up here," called back the purple-haired girl, as she disappeared into a particularly thick patch of evergreens, the snow melting almost instantly as it fell upon the hair that was a complete contrast to the white.

I quickened my pace, and on the other side of the tall trees we emerged into a large clearing.

As I looked out upon the small reservation around me I felt almost angry at how similar it seemed to the town we had just left; a few small streets with a large cluster of buildings in the center. And I was back in with werewolves; just my luck…

I saw directly to my left a few hundred yards was a large wooden cabin, and I could just barely make out a wolf's tail disappearing inside of the doorway.

I jumped as I walked inside. Damn it! Already sitting in a large circle were the five brightly hair-colored werewolves in human form – and Sam and all of the rest. I heard a small cry behind me and as I spun around saw Leah's surprise as well; apparently she was just as annoyed as I was.

"We meet again," came Sam's deep voice from across the large one-roomed cabin.

He stood up and walked over to me, so I took a few steps back, and he chuckled. "We have never been properly introduced. I am Sam Ulley, alpha leader of the Quileute Tribe werewolf pack in Washington." He laughed even harder when he saw my eyes widen in shock. "No, no, Washington State."

I heard more sniggers behind him and became even more irritated. I didn't care how many times we met or were introduced we would always be nothing but strangers to each other.

As I continued to silently glare at him he merely shrugged and pulled his unshaken hand back. "That is Quil, Embry, Jared, Jacob" – the giant-sized one who tried to keep my Penny away from me – "Seth, and Paul." Paul growled lightly, but I realized it wasn't meant for me because I heard Penny squeak from my back.

"Hahaha, don't worry, you're taken. But if that ever changes, let me know…" he said as he licked his lips, and I let out a loud growl.

"It won't!" I barked, but turned my frown into a stupid smile when I received a kiss on the cheek from my favorite girl. Paul snorted, so I quickly returned to the barring of my teeth.

"Enough of the hostility," said the blonde little girl I had barely even noticed among the giant figures of the werewolf boys, although I did see that she was sitting in the middle. "My name is Reyna and I am the alpha of the Denali Tribe. The green is Ursula, the orange is Blair, the blue Gene, and purple, Kendra. Welcome to our pack."

I nodded curtly; probably not the best idea considering she was the alpha of a very adult group of werewolves, but I was still pissed off at Paul.

"Ignore Paul, Damien," said the green-haired woman who had been studying my face, "we all do." She didn't even bother to look at the shock that crossed his face. "Feel free to join us, and you too Leah," she called to the girl behind us.

Still with Penny on my back I took a few steps forward and sat us both down. I motioned for Penny to come sit behind me, but she sat in my lap, intertwining our fingers in the process. Leah plopped down rather ungracefully beside Seth, looking disgruntled. Why was I always noticing what Leah did?

"Isn't it great having an imprint Penny?" asked the Kendra woman enthusiastically as she stroked the hand of the blue-haired Gene.

"Yes, yes it is," said Penny with a smile, glad to be acknowledged. It felt so good to hear her happy and calm again considering what she had just been put through. She smelled so good –

"Now Damien, first things first," came the small yet very business-like voice of Reyna. How dare she interrupt me while I was enjoying my Penny – "there is a boundary line that runs across the lands around here for about fifty miles east to west. Werewolf territory is the side with the town in it, because after all, we are the protectors. Secondly, never underestimate the vampires, especially Tanya's clan, who claim to be vegetarians, although after what happened tonight I sincerely doubt that at all…"

"What do you mean 'vegetarians'?" I asked.

"A bloodsucker that feeds on animal blood instead of humans is called a vegetarian. Very ironic, I know, but Tanya's coven has been known to stray from their alternative lifestyle, especially her and her two sisters, Katrina and Irina. They do not feed on humans from our town, but in neutral areas and towns that are away from the boundaries we have set. Not often, but we know they have done it before."

I wrapped my arms safely across Penny. "Then if they're not allowed to drink humans inside the boundaries why did they take Penny?"

"Because you were on vampire territory. They can do whatever they please on their own land. In fact, it was _us_ who were trespassing by rescuing you and your imprint," she added matter-of-factly.

"Tanya is the blonde, but which one is the brunette?" I asked. The brunette was the important one to me.

"Irina. Why?" she asked as she saw what I think was determination on my face. Either that or anger, but I think it was both.

"I've seen her before. The first time that I – the first time that I changed. She was there."

"The first time a werewolf changes is when their body has fully matured. That, or when they are exposed to a vampire first-hand," Reyna explained when she saw I had no explanation for my sudden animal transformation.

"But he's not a Native," interrupted that stupid giant Jacob, as if my white skin color made me unworthy.

"There you go being jealous again of my special Damien," pointed out Penny, lightning fast. I saw out of the corner of my eye Leah cough while the blue and orange-haired men laughed.

I laughed darkly, angry at what his tone had implied but grateful I had an imprint with such a quick wit.

"What are your ancestors from, Damien?" asked the orange-haired one. It was the first time I had heard him speak.

I had to take a minute to think. Father's side was mostly British and Irish, but "my Mother was German," I answered. "Why?"

"Germany is where werewolves originated – for Europeans anyways. It's possible…" he mused.

"What is important is that he is one of us, no matter what color his skin. Now when you first saw Irina, where were you?" continued the small girl impatiently.

I retold my story for her again, and everyone was silent.

"I wasn't aware that they traveled that far," said Reyna.

"Carlisle's clan comes all the way up here to visit them," interjected Sam.

"But never the other way around. And now they have tried to kidnap a human girl."

"No one is taking my human girl," I declared, challenging anyone to say otherwise.

I heard a door open and we all saw Leah standing at the doorway to the cabin. I hadn't even noticed she had gotten up.

"Where are you going?" asked Sam, probably annoyed that she was trying to leave without his permission. What an egotistical son of a –

"No one is keeping watch, and considering what just happened," snapped Leah, but I wasn't entirely sure that was the only reason.

"Good point, I'll go with you," said Kendra slowly, as if she knew what was really going on.

"I'll go too sis," but as Seth started to get up she stopped him.

"No, no it's fine Seth, you can stay," she said quickly, and then stepped outside.

Kendra waved to the green-haired woman to follow, and the two walked out after Leah.

"So what's the point of all this?" I asked. "You've done an excellent job explaining everything, so would you mind if we left now? We could make it to Juneau by morning, and then be gone forever. I'd really hate to interrupt this great thing you've got going here," I added sarcastically.

"You're awfully cynical for someone who is going to help."

"Help with what? We want to leave."

"You can't leave right now. Tanya will be waiting for you the second you step anywhere outside of our boundaries. _Especially_ after what those two idiots did to her sisters," she added, tilting her head to the smirking blue and orange men.

"So what are we supposed to do?"

"Wait." _Wait_! For what? "We're still trying to decide what to do, but if you truly want to protect your imprint, you will stay."

Well now I was stuck, surrounded by twelve reminders of what I despised most about myself.

"Now, as for keeping watch, I want at least four of us out there at a time. Sam, can you organize it for me tonight?" She yawned, stood up and headed for the door. "I need the night off to work on my solar system project –"

"I can help you with that!" said Seth, who hastily stood up. The other boys laughed quietly, and didn't even bother to hide their teasing grins when he gave them a pathetically pleading look.

"Thank you Seth," and the two of them walked out.

"He's never going to get _her_," said Paul the moment the door closed behind the two of them.

"He doesn't have a prayer," laughed Quil.

"They're not imprints, so he shouldn't even be bothering," said Jacob quietly.

"C'mon, let him dream though."

"No, I think we should just rag on him until it becomes unbearably awkward –"

"Enough!" yelled Sam, and they all silenced themselves.

Leah and the other two came back in. She was looking much better than when she had left, and I felt a small burst of happiness at that.

"Alright, for the first watch I want myself, Jared, Damien, and Leah –"

"No!" shouted Leah, and her face turned red when eleven pairs of eyes turned to look at her. "I'm tired Sam, could I have second watch please?"

He stared at her for a few minutes, and then glanced at me. I saw him take a quick look at Kendra, and when she nodded he conceded. "Fine, switch with Paul."

"Damn it Leah! I'm friggin' tired to you know! After having to chase after you all damn afternoon –"

"Just shut up Paul!" shouted Leah, and she stormed right back outside, followed quickly by the other two women.

I had never done a watch before. And I especially didn't want to be on a watch with Sam, and especially Paul, who I could tell was a cocky jerk.

However I followed my three watch-mates outside, and when Sam pointed in the directions that Paul and Jared would each be heading in, they each took off. It hurt very badly having to be away from Penny, but it was feeling much worse than before.

"I just need a quick word with the others, and then I'll be right back to show you what to do," said Sam before heading back inside.

…You need to calm down sweetheart…now just take a few deep breaths…

Instantly I felt better inside; someone was talking to Leah, who must be close by.

I headed towards the nearest building, but it was empty. Then I heard voices coming from around back, so I sidled around the front and to the side, where I heard it in perfect volume.

"How did you know that it was him?" asked the ever-peppy voice I knew came from the purple girl.

"The second I looked at him, I felt it. It was like I had to be with him, I _needed_ to be with him. I wanted to keep him safe; I wanted to be with him forever. And my stomach, my stomach felt like it was doing the most incredible back flips, and my heart started to beat like crazy, and when I looked into his eyes I almost choked at how beautiful he was, and it finally felt like I was complete inside," Leah gushed.

The other woman sounded slightly irritated. "Then what's the matter? If he's your imprint, then he's _your_ imprint!"

"But he's not!" cried Leah. "Don't you see the way he looks at her? Or the way _she_ looks at him! You can tell that they need each other, and the way she's basically attached to him says it all. You haven't even seen them kiss! I thought my insides had been ripped out, and all I wanted to do was die! It was horrible, there has to be something wrong with me," she wailed. "First Sam, and now him –"

But then I felt a large hand on my shoulder, and another clamp over my mouth.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" asked Sam.

**_PLEASE REVIEW :D_ Also I have started working on a new story, called The Cullen Family (Plus 1 More) Chronicles which is about how the Cullens came together and ended up in Forks. Please check it out! Thanks, nomad :D**


	10. The Deal

Okay, so here's the deal:

I'm sorry for not updating at all this month.

Over the past 30 days I have had 3 family members get diagnosed with cancer,

Moved across the state,

Only to find out I am being sent to a boarding school,

And lost most of my faith in the Twilight Series due to the abomination that was Breaking Dawn. I am not getting into an argument with anybody – that's my opinion, and Stephenie has done much better than the latest installment, hands down. If I wanted to read fan fictions, I would – hey wait, I already do read fan fictions! HERE!

Also, I need reviews. I have more chapters written, but what's the point if you don't get feedback? All you need to do is click that tiny little button.

Nothing more will be added – to either story – until I see some reviews please. I love to write and am enjoying the whole process (and so far nobody has said anything negative), but I am seriously lacking motivation right now, so it just isn't worth it for me. I really want to share how I envision someone dealing with 2 different imprints, but right now it doesn't appear to be worth it. Please review, and I'll keep going.

Thanks,

nomad of the north


	11. In Too Deep

PLEASE REVIEW :)

Werewolf of the North

Chapter 9 - In Too Deep

"Looks like you've gotten yourself into quite the situation Damien."

I had no intention of answering him. Mainly because he had just caught me eavesdropping on Leah, and he didn't even let me finish, even though I bet he wanted to know why she was acting so weird too..

"Ignoring me won't help solve your problem."

Actually, it will for the short-term. I can handle everything on my own without your stupid help. I don't care how tall you are, or how long you've been a werewolf, or when you became leader of that "pack" of freaks, or –

"How much do you need Penny?"

That caught me off-guard. "_Need_?"

"Yes. Not love, but _need_." His voice wasn't too serious, but it did seem like there was something he was trying to figure out, but he wasn't going to let me in on it. Even though he needed _my_ help.

"Unbelievably."

"That's it?"

That's IT? I stopped right in my tracks, which would have been completely accurate except that I was still human, and turned to face Sam. "Just because you've never known what it feels like to have your heart ripped out every time you see them walk away, feel yourself want to break down completely every time you see them in pain, feel yourself willing to go to the ends of the earth for them, or feel as if all you want to do is take them away and hide them from the rest of the world, so that you'd never have to worry about them being unhappy ever again, doesn't mean that I haven't. You're disgusting. Now show me what I have to do to keep _my_ _imprint_ safe from these vampires bitches so that we can leave."

The look on Sam's face had at first turned to shock at the loudness of my voice, but then it slowly but surely returned into that all-knowing air of smugness that he always had about him. Couldn't he, for just _once_, not know everything?

"That sounds about right," he murmured, and he continued walking. "I don't understand it though, because that's what…" and his voice went beyond even werewolf hearing.

"Wait! What 'sounds about right?'" He was so deep in thought that he must've not heard me, but that didn't stop me from tackling him to the ground in a single leap. "Answer me!"

"Get off of my back, and I'll show you what you need to do," came Sam's voice through the snow, his tone both amused and annoyed. I knew he wasn't going to tell me anything – at least right now – so I decided I would settle on learning how to destroy a vampire.

"Do that again, and I _will_ hurt you," he said as he stared straight into my eyes.

"What happened to 'werewolves heal fast'?" I shot back, mirroring his stern facial expression.

"I know the places where a werewolf doesn't heal fast," he said with a small grin.

All of a sudden I felt three simultaneous urges: the first was to rip his face off, the second was to obey him and respect the fact that he knew more than me., and the third was to suddenly follow the hideous stench that was coming from the north. I took off running, and Sam was quickly running beside me.

"Before we transform Damien," he whispered as he grabbed my shoulder to stop us again. But I didn't want to stop, I wanted to keep running, I wanted to chase it, I wanted to _kill it_. This had to be a vampire. I ignored Sam, because I had to get to the thing that was trying to take away my Penny! Why don't you understand Sam? "Damien!" He growled, and that brought me back. "Will you join our pack?"

"Wha-"

"Will you join our pack?" he asked a little more hastily, and I could tell the smell was getting farther away.

"Sure, but Sam we need to get the bloodsucker-"

"Damien, will you join our pack?"

I felt the wind carry another wave of the sickly sweet odor right into my nostrils, and I could tell it was the blonde, Tanya. She was so close – I had to catch her!

"WILL YOU JOIN OUR PACK DAMIEN?"

"YES I WILL JOIN YOUR PACK!" I roared back, and I felt his hand release and we both took off, transforming into the angry, beastly, powerful creatures of the forest that we were.

She had stopped running. We must have been going god only knows how fast, but I could hear her soft footsteps at first, and now they had disappeared. Sam's voice, which had stopped when we began the chase, was now pounding through my head at an unbelievable rate. I saw images of vampires, bears, deer, and regular wolves, all fly past my eyes. Suddenly it was _me_ who was chasing these animals, using different methods of hunting that I had never even dreamed of using before. Then I heard someone talking to Sam, but there was no one else around us, and it definitely wasn't my voice either.

'Focus Damien,' he said clearly.

Was he having these voices and images going through his head?

'Yes. When you join a pack, you become one of them. Actually, you become one mental being entirely. Everything you are seeing right now are my experiences, my memories, and my life. The voices you hear are the different wolves communicating with each other. When you become a member of a pack, everything you say and do can be seen by everyone else. Now pay attention to what I am showing you, because Tanya is extremely close, and if you cannot handle yourself properly she will no doubt hurt you badly. And trust me, she knows more ways to seriously injure a werewolf than I do,' he said, answering my unspoken retort about how she could not catch, let alone hurt me.

Then I saw an image of a teenage boy kissing a toddler girl on the forehead, and I felt the need to protect this young child from the bloodsuckers, in addition to Penny and… Leah. Leah, who could fight back against these vampires, but I didn't want her to. She couldn't. If she hurt herself trying to protect the rest of us, I don't know what I'd do –

'We can see that too,' came the disgusted voice of Paul.

'He's new Paul, lay off,' came Jared, and then I saw him leaning up against a wall, making out with another girl I had never seen before.

'Who are all these girls?'

'Our imprints,' answered Sam, and then I saw the profile of a beautiful young woman baking in a kitchen. That must be Sam's girl. Back to the one making out with Jared I know knew against a wall, and then my mind returned to the young baby being kissed by Quil!

'That's disgusting! His girlfriend's a baby!'

'Hey,' came the growling voice of Quil, 'she's not a baby she just turned two!'

'Actually I think he's right Quil that's still a baby-'

'If they're under five I think that qualifies him for pedophile status-"

-And then I felt this horrible rage directed at Paul, and I was suddenly tackling him to the ground, and I felt teeth sink into my left arm and draw blood, but when I checked my arm it was perfectly fine.

'How do you get used to this all the time?' I asked Sam, but he wasn't paying attention to me, he was too busy reaming Paul and Quil.

'I WANT BOTH OF YOU TO GO BACK NOW! IF YOU CAN'T EVEN LEARN TO CONTROL YOURSELF AROUND YOUR OWN BROTHERS, YOU'LL NEVER EVEN LEAVE LA PUSH AGAIN LET ALONE SEE ANOTHER VAMPIRE EVER AGAIN! AND WHERE THE HELL IS JARED_?_'

'Right here,' came a voice that had managed to stifle a snicker just in time.

'You will take these two idiots back, alert the rest of the packs, and then wait a mile away from our current position with Jacob and Embry until I give you new orders.' I could feel a lot of disappointment coming from Jared, yet at the same time he felt compelled to honor his alpha's orders. But at least I wasn't feeling it myself, that must have been a sign of improvement. I still felt Sam's rage inside of me, but I think being the alpha his emotions would be a lot stronger anyways.

'Alright Damien, focus now, because Tanya's not going to go down without a fight. And by "fight" I seriously mean fight. Try your best not to rush anything, because the other leeches are probably just waiting for us to make the first move before they ambush. I would like you to do exactly as I say, and if I see you getting into trouble or not being able to handle yourself, it would be beneficial for you if you stop when I say so. Do you understand?'

He wasn't going to budge, and I wasn't going to fight anything unless I agreed, so I said 'yes', making sure not to sound too annoyed. But he could see everything I was thinking, so it didn't matter.

'You catch on quick if you can just manage to calm down once in a while,' came Sam's chuckled response.

After watching a few more memories (the concept of having a movie theater in my head is very hard to grasp) on previous encounters Sam had had with vampires, Tanya specifically (for a werewolf from Washington he had met her a surprising number of times), we started to walk cautiously, but confidently, because Sam told me that you always had to act as if they were watching. "Those bitches don't miss a thing," Paul had said, and considering the fact that we were in their territory I completely agreed with him now.

'So how come you're not calling in the reinforcements if you're so sure there's going to be an ambush?' I asked Sam.

'Because no matter what day of the century it is, Tanya is still going to play with her food first. And we're not food, so what else is there to do with us?'

'Hmm, how about killing us?' I asked sarcastically.

'When you become as old as a vampire like Tanya, you can discover plenty of things better than killing a person. _And_ we're werewolves, so whatever she has planned is going to be extra special.'

'Wow, it's great that you're so supportive and understanding of the bloodsuckers' plight,' I commented, not really sure who I should be more scared of; the immortal and sadistic Tanya, or Sam with his extensive knowledge of Tanya and her ways.'

'Oh I didn't know all of this; Reyna, her pack and every single generation before them do, and no matter who the werewolf is, you have an obligation to help them – especially when it comes to vampires. That includes any memories you have, which weren't all mine by the way.'

'Well that… makes me feel better I suppose. But still, where did you-'

And it all happened so fast after that: we first heard cracking from the ice over the river we were walking across, then four pairs of hands punched through the shimmering surface and pulled Sam straight through the ice and into the water.

I felt and then saw two big tan arms wrap around my throat and a large "thud" as someone landed on my back, and then the upside down face of Eleazar, his perfect teeth that were whiter than the snow curved into a frown. The scary part was how he was able to swing around and hang off of my neck and still manage to keep me from biting, scratching, or throwing him off. His grin shook up and down as I tried to frantically get him off, but all he did was keep his grip and laugh manically.

"Sorry about you're _alpha_," he said dryly, "but it's a lot easier to take care of the stronger one first." He put his face right up against mine and we both wrinkled our noses at the other one's scent. "Nothing offensive intended, but why are you so worried about this other mutt girl? Or is bitch more accurate? Ahaha" he laughed, and now I was practically flailing with all of my might. "She's not the one you should be worried about anyways…" and I thought his smile was going to take over the rest of his face. "Wait a minute, wait a minute, am I seeing this correctly? I thought the imprint's name was Penny, why are you calling her 'Leah?'" That was it – if he found out about both of them then I was screwed for sure. Leah was tough – she had chased after Tanya and wasn't afraid of getting into a fight, but against more than one I doubt she'd be able to handle herself.

"So this…Leah…" he mused, his voice not even fluctuating against my continued thrashing. And then shock plastered his face, which I had yet to see happen to a vampire. It felt satisfying in a way, but not really much at all, because he had finally put it together. I had to think of something else – all that came to mind at that exact moment was father, dead in the snow. Eleazar saw it, but it was too late. He sighed, "tough luck niño, first the parents, and now-" back to the grin "-both imprints."

**_I hope you enjoy - I would've included the fight in this chapter but it would've been really really long. The next chapter will be up soon-ish. Thanks!_**

**_nomad :D_**


	12. Losing Grip

**Okay, so I am not going to try and put forth any excuses this time. Life sucks, school sucks, and I miss home, but that's nothing no one hasn't heard before. I've been spending a lot of time with my family. 2 of my 3 relatives with cancer have beaten it, so I can't say I regret anything right now, but I am _truly sorry for no response whatsoever about updates :(_  
**

**This is a two parter, and I'm sorry it's short but I've been taking much too long with this so I felt you all deserve something to keep you from forgetting about this story.**

**I hope you can forgive me!  
**

Werewolf of the North

Chapter 10 – Losing Grip

I was no longer in trouble. Screwed might have been a better word for it.

Here I was, trapped somewhere east of Denali, with Sam being drowned in a river by four maniac female vampires and myself, not even able to throw off a single vampire. That is until I ran straight towards a nearby tree, and lowered my head as if I was about to do a somersault. Eleazar saw it coming, but at the last minute I changed courses and headed for the tree right beside it. I effectively knocked over a giant evergreen, but Eleazar was still holding on by a fistful of hair on my right side.

I turned my head as far as I could, and I was just able to sink my canines – haha canines – right into his hand that tasted like ice. And rotten pomegranate. 'How do you like that you sick bastard?' I asked as I chomped down a second time, ripping three fingers clean off.

Just for the record, up until this point I never thought that vampires were better than werewolves in _ANY_ way, good or bad – but now I know they have one of the scariest growls I have _ever_ heard. It was like a combination of nails on a chalkboard, breaking glass and screwdrivers in a blender, but there was also this undertone that sounded like a polar bear.

"Eleazar?!" came the shrieking voice of his mate, and in the split-second that he took to call out "Carmen!" I had his entire forearm snapped into pieces, and I wanted to continue shredding his arm all the way up to the shoulder, but before I could destroy his bicep his mate was digging what had to have been high-heels made from silver or something into my spine, and I roared in rage as I felt the point break the skin and pierce whatever the hell is in my back.

I jumped back – feeling the extreme pain in the process), and the vampire wearing a red cocktail dress of all things nimbly jumped off of me with a somersault in the air, and instead of going for a second attack she was embracing her mate – _as she started to piece his limb back together_!

She spoke so fast it was almost as if she was making a whirring sound as she said "give me a second darling."

But Eleazar didn't respond – he just kept his eyes focused on mine as he searched my brain for more things to use against me. "Why does no one come to help the young pup?" he asked with a grin on his face.

"These people are clueless!" I yelled in frustration as I stared out the window to the rainbow of werewolves that were surrounding the cabin. Why were none of them going to go help Damien?

"They're doing what they're told," came the voice from the single other person in the cabin. Leah scared me, and I don't care what anybody else said about her; I _know_ she hates me.

"They need to question what they're told sometimes."

"I don't see you out there helping," she shot back at me, and I think I was finally beginning to understand.

"You think I'm weak," I said slowly, making sure I could see the reaction in her eyes, "because I'm not like you."

"Among other things," she said sneeringly, clearly not wanting to talk anymore. But then why would she say something like that?

I turned back to the window, ignoring that mean girl with a bitchy attitude – and I hate to describe people like that but it's true. I hadn't done anything wrong to her, had I?

The purple-haired girl said she was just stubborn and cranky, but something inside kept saying telling me I was the problem; it was almost as if there was something _physically_ keeping us apart but I couldn't see the walls that Leah could, and that made me sad, because the first time I had seen her she was a completely different person. Damien had just rescued me – again – from those wolves, and when she was looking at us I felt like we were safe, as if help had somehow found its way to us.

'I need help! Why is _no one_ answering me?!'

Not a single response from anybody, which was pissing me off considering there were eleven wolves less than two miles from where I was currently being pinned to the ground by a Latino vampire with one and a half arms while his chica tried to bash my head in with an evergreen.

WHAM "That's it chica! Faster! Faster!"

I was just about to lose consciousness in the pool of red snow I was laying in when I heard a gruff voice in my head.

'DAMIEN! Where is Sam?!'

'…river…ambush…' I could barely even think the words let alone mentally speak them.

'Why can't we hear him?!'

'Damien? DAMIEN?!'

'Where did he go Jared?'

'GO GET THE OTHERS!' I managed to scream out in one last bout of strength as I looked up to see Tanya with her perfect white teeth and a giant black wolf hanging around her shoulders. Then the boulder collided with my skull.

"Why aren't any of you at least going to check on them?"

"We can't do anything until we're told to by Jacob," said the short one with the anger issues. Paul I think his name was. He wanted to go and fight, but it was almost as if he was being held back by some kind of invisible force. I trusted him for some reason. But what he was saying still didn't make sense.

"Then why isn't Jacob telling you to go?"

"Because when Jacob tries to order us, it doesn't work. Sam's the alpha, but he's not dead, so he's either not a wolf right now or he's knocked out."

"Twenty bucks says Sam's knocked out," said one of the younger-looking boys.

"Forty bucks says the other kid's dead," said the youngest boy Seth, Leah's brother.

I don't know how to describe it, but I felt something inside of me just snap. How dare they talk about Damien like that? _My Damien_?

No one was answering. I couldn't explain where the others were, but Sam was dead, that I was sure of.

I wasn't dead because I could hear Tanya's two sisters talking a fair distance away, and as I opened my eyes – well, eye (one had been swollen shut) – I couldn't see anyone around. I took a quick sniff to confirm.

"Irina! He's awake!" the other one whispered. Kate I think.

"Leave him. He's not moving anytime soon – even for a werewolf," her melodious voice barely resembling a cackle. It was so different from Penny's laugh. Besides the human factor, it was richer, and completely genuine compared to these fake harpies. I think even Penny would call these bloodsuckers bitches, and Penny didn't believe in swearing for any reason whatsoever.

'I miss you.'

"Are you sure they'll take it?" asked a male voice.

"They don't care about the pup, but they'll want Sam. That I am sure of. Out of all the packs I have ever come across, this one values their members the least. But their leader – they respect him."

"But what about Reyna and the others?"

"She's too young to make a decision this important, and until she does those five are useless."

"But that won't stop the others from coming?" he asked, still not fully understanding, which I thought was hilarious considering he was supposed to be able to read minds.

"Kate, who is waiting by the cliff's edge?"

"The russet, the grey, and the spotted one."

"Excellent – the russet is the second in command," she giggled, and I shuddered as the thought of her beautiful frame being capable of such evil passed through my body. "Does he come any further Kate?"

"No," she replied, and then joined in with her two sisters' bouts of laughter. "He is stuck."

"Whatever command Sam gave, it is preventing his beta from reaching us. And until the alpha is dead, he cannot be disobeyed, or give any orders of his own!"

'Sam's alive!'

I was mentally jumping for joy, because I only felt four excruciatingly sharp waves of pain when I tried to put weight on my real legs, which had not only been snapped completely but also folded inversely from their normal direction. I let out a low whine, trying not to make too much of a commotion. 'I'm stuck here,' I moaned, hoping _someone_ would hear me!

"Aww, I'm sorry niño. Would you like me to make you more comfortable?" I looked up to see Carmen, a cruel smile on her face, and I yelped horrifically as she twisted my front right leg around her hand with the gentlest touch and the strongest force I had ever experienced. My body was heaving, only making my shattered rib cage scream louder as the pieces of bones were rattling around in my chest.

I briefly considered in my moment of resignation changing back to my human form. But I had more dignity than that; I would fight as a wolf, I would die as a wolf.

I wasn't going to let this little bitch finish me off so easily, and her devilish little grin was only making the feeling stronger. If anyone was going to finish me off, it would be Tanya.

She laughed louder now. "Does it hurt? Should I make it all better?" she crooned into my ear. Her scent was hideous, and it sent shivers – which turned into violent pain spasms – all through my enormous frame.

Unfortunately for her, everything above my collarbone was still in tact, which meant when I put all of my effort into whipping my neck around to clamp down on hers with my jaws of steel she had less than a millisecond to pull away.

And she had missed it.

Her head dropped softly to the ground, and I had to nudged it with my muzzle so that it was right between my front paws, which I couldn't use to hold her head down but would be effective enough for keeping her from rolling away.

Her demonic red eyes glared at me and her mouth was screaming with soundless rage as her vocal chords had already been disconnected. I started with her face, and she tried to resist even then by biting my tongue as I ripped off her skin and crushed her skull in two.

By the time they find either of us it'll be too late, and as sickeningly repulsive as she tasted, I made sure that her brain had been completely shredded, hoping that it would be enough to kill her. I tried to cover the small pile of bones, white flesh and grayish brain fluids with snow, but I decided it would create a better response from the other leeches if they could see her here out in the open.

I licked my satisfied yet utterly disgusted lips, trying to clean myself of her clear, viscous fluids that tasted –

_This_ _isn't_ _BLOOD_!

_IT'S VENOM_!

**I promise a longer conclusion I swear! And in much less time! Again please forgive me, and if you feel so inclined please review.**

**nomad :)  
**


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